Rutgers students mark tragedy

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Rutgers University students wore black on Friday to remember a classmate who committed suicide, and a lawmaker proposed stiffer penalties for invasion of privacy - the charge against the roommate accused of secretly streaming video of the victim's tryst with a man.

Calling it "Black Friday," students were encouraged to leave flowers and mementoes at a makeshift memorial for 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, a freshman and promising violinist who jumped off the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22.

The Rutgers football team also planned a moment of silence before its game Saturday against Tulane.

About a dozen students from the Phi Delta Theta fraternity set up tables Friday about a half-mile from the dorms in Piscataway, where, authorities say, Clementi's roommate and another freshman surreptitiously captured his sexual liaison.

Fraternity members urged students to wear black and collected bouquets, roses, and potted flowers from those who wanted to send condolences to Clementi's family.

Rose Caro, a Rutgers senior who helped out at the tables, said Clementi's death had "hit us all hard."

The college has a diverse and tolerant student population, and she said she hoped outsiders didn't get an image of the campus as virulently homophobic.

"A lot of kids are just still immature," she said. "I'm sure those kids had no idea what the end result would be, and they have to live with what happened for the rest of their lives."

The tables offered a forum where people could write messages to Clementi's family.

"To recognize this individual is not only to honor a life that was so needlessly lost, but to silently (or vocally) speak out against the flagrantly intolerant and ignorant mindset that facilitated this tragic event," one message read.

The saga that unfolded this week at Rutgers has become a flashpoint for debate about the treatment of young gays and lesbians.

Shortly before Clementi died, a post appeared on a website catering to young gay men that sought advice on what to do after the writer learned a roommate had secretly recorded him in his dorm room with a man. Though it's impossible to be certain the post and subsequent ones were made by Clementi, they follow the timeline of the alleged recording.

The website Gawker first reported that someone launched the discussion thread after he realized his roommate was "spying" on him with a webcam.

The author described his conflicted feelings after reading his roommate's Twitter messages about the author kissing a man in their dorm room as he watched from afar. He wondered whether he should report his roommate or request a room change.

The author later wrote that he told a resident assistant about the recording and requested a room reassignment - and that he had unplugged the roommate's computer and searched the room for cameras before having another liaison.

The last confirmed communication from Clementi was on his Facebook page. It said, "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry."

Clementi's roommate, Dharun Ravi, of Plainsboro, N.J., and another student, and Molly Wei, of Princeton, both 18, are charged with invasion of privacy, with the most serious charges carrying a penalty of up to five years in prison.

Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan said Thursday that charges could be added under New Jersey's hate-crimes law.

Ravi's lawyer has not responded to requests for comment. Messages left with an attorney believed to be representing Wei were not returned.

A bill introduced by Sen. Shirley Turner (D., Mercer) since Clementi's death would raise the maximum fine for privacy invasion from $15,000 to $150,000 and would increase the possible prison sentence to five to 10 years.

"Whether this was a cruel joke or outright harassment of this student, what happened on Rutgers University's campus was a crime," Turner said. "We need to send a clear message that we're not going to take this lightly."

Jim McGreevey, the former New Jersey governor who resigned after announcing he was a "gay American," talked Friday about the difficulties of coming to terms with being gay, especially while young.

"He was trying to find a community online, but at the same time basically being terrorized online, by roommates," he told ABC's Good Morning America.

Rutgers officials declined to comment on whether Clementi had complained about his treatment to staff members, told people he was being bullied or harassed, or asked for a room transfer.

University spokesman Greg Trevor said such requests were "part of a student's record" and could not be publicly disclosed.