Friends Mourn Suicide of 'Brilliant' Sophomore

Ansgar Hansen '97, an English and American Literature and Language concentrator affiliated with Dunster House, committed suicide last week, according to friends.

Hansen, 20, threw himself in front of a train at the Porter Square T station last Wednesday, Raymond Chan '97, said.

Students and teachers interviewed last night that Harvard's death was not only a great personal loss for them, but a loss to society as well.

"He was the most brilliant student I have never known, and the most fragile, the most creative and probably the least grounded," said Walter S. McCloskey '60, one of Hansen's teachers at Milton Academy.

"He was motivated by ideas, a true intellectual. He was the one person I've met who just loved ideas--that's why he was an English major," said Mark A. Travassos '97, a close friend. "He had the making of a great academic."

"Ansgar was the nicest person I've ever met," said Eric Giroux '97, who met Hansen as a first-year. "He was also one of the most sincere intellectuals and scholors that I've ever met at Harvard."

"He thought about things that ninth-graders don't usually think about," said Anne Neely, an art instructor at Milton. :He thought about life, fairness and had a real affinity towards the earth and animals.

"He thought beyond the immediate moment and his surroundings, and had the immediate respect and admiration of his peers," Neely said.

Jennifer C. Frank ;97, who learned about his death only yesterday, remembered Hansen from a Milton Greek mythology class.

"He's the sweetest, gentlest, nicest person in the whole world," Frank said. "He seemed shy, but once you started talking to him he would open up, and he just knew the most amazing things, and really had a love for the things he was learning."

"More than anyone else I've met he cared about what he was studying," Giroux said. "He loved literature, nature, and biology, and he really treated other people as if he loved them."

"He was interested in other people," said Tim P. Morningstar '97, a Crimson editor. "He was selfless in that sense."

Hansen could not decide whether to concentrate in English or biology, his friends said, but had chosen English because he was fascinated by ideas.

"He was very interested in field biology and birds, and in poetry and English classes," said Chan, who went to Milton with Hansen.

"He was the most well-read person I know," Chan said. "He was very good at a lot of things, especially academic."

Hansen was involved in bird- watching and poetry clubs while he was atHarvard, his friends said.

Hansen spent last summer in Canada bandingbirds for research, Travassos said. "Even thoughhe was alone, he really enjoyed it. He loved it."

Hansen's Harvard friends said they were notsure exactly why the sophomore decided to end hislife.

"Ansgar was a sort of a fragile person, he wasoverwhelmed by a lot of things and the work he hadto, and there were some family problems,"Travassos said. "He had a lot of stress, had todeal with a lot of different things, it reallytook a toll on him."

Travassos, Ignacio L. Montoya '97, andGiroux--three roommates in Cabot House--spent agood deal of time with Hansen.

"We came to see him as one of us," Jiroux said,his voice shaking. "He was our closest friend atHarvard and his death hurt as a lot. We went toNantucket and Cape Cod with him."

"Five days before he died, we went to Lexingtonand Friendly's with him," Giroux said. "His deathwas completely unexpected."

Dunster House will hold a gathering of Hansen'sfriends, to allow them to discuss the issues hissuicide has raised, Senior Tutor Suzi Naiburg saidyesterday. A time for the meeting has not yet beenset.

"We are deeply saddened by his death," Naiburgsaid. A letter will be sent to all Dunsterresidents to notify them to Hansen's death and themeeting, she added.

Naiburg encouraged Hansen's friends to contactthe Dunster House Office to arrange a time for themeeting.

Some of Hansen's friends said they wonderwhether his death could have been avoided.

"I wish Harvard had been more perceptive andhad reached out to him more," Giroux said.

"I think what happened is he tried to drop twocourses this semester, and Harvard would only lethim drop one. I don't think they were veryperceptive of his problem," Giroux said. "Maybeit's not Harvard's fault, but I really wish forhis sake and ours that they had been more gentle.

"Did they do everything they absolutely could?"Giroux asked.

Others, who knew Hansen from his Milton days,said that his relationship with his parents, notHarvard, was at the heart of his action.

Hansen was his parents' only child, and theyadored him to the point of suffocation, onestudent said.

His parents had insisted that he live with themin Somerville, said the student, who spoke oncondition of anonymity.

"He had a long walk on his commute to school,"Giroux said. "I'm not sure if he ever felt welcomeat Harvard, if he ever felt at home here."

"Even though he was an outstanding student,maybe he wasn't comfortable with being surroundedby people who weren't as sincere and compassionateabout their studies as he was," Giroux said.

"He was very gentle, very sensitive and couldbe hurt very easily," Giroux said.

Hansen is the second Harvard undergraduate tocommit suicide this year.

Dominic J. Armijo '95, of Kirkland House,killed himself on January 22.

Last week, Katherine Louise Tucker '94, also ofDunster House, who had stayed in Cambridge to takevoice lessons and sing with the Harvard-RadcliffeCollegium Musicum, committed suicide as well

Hansen spent last summer in Canada bandingbirds for research, Travassos said. "Even thoughhe was alone, he really enjoyed it. He loved it."

Hansen's Harvard friends said they were notsure exactly why the sophomore decided to end hislife.

"Ansgar was a sort of a fragile person, he wasoverwhelmed by a lot of things and the work he hadto, and there were some family problems,"Travassos said. "He had a lot of stress, had todeal with a lot of different things, it reallytook a toll on him."

Travassos, Ignacio L. Montoya '97, andGiroux--three roommates in Cabot House--spent agood deal of time with Hansen.

"We came to see him as one of us," Jiroux said,his voice shaking. "He was our closest friend atHarvard and his death hurt as a lot. We went toNantucket and Cape Cod with him."

"Five days before he died, we went to Lexingtonand Friendly's with him," Giroux said. "His deathwas completely unexpected."

Dunster House will hold a gathering of Hansen'sfriends, to allow them to discuss the issues hissuicide has raised, Senior Tutor Suzi Naiburg saidyesterday. A time for the meeting has not yet beenset.

"We are deeply saddened by his death," Naiburgsaid. A letter will be sent to all Dunsterresidents to notify them to Hansen's death and themeeting, she added.

Naiburg encouraged Hansen's friends to contactthe Dunster House Office to arrange a time for themeeting.

Some of Hansen's friends said they wonderwhether his death could have been avoided.

"I wish Harvard had been more perceptive andhad reached out to him more," Giroux said.

"I think what happened is he tried to drop twocourses this semester, and Harvard would only lethim drop one. I don't think they were veryperceptive of his problem," Giroux said. "Maybeit's not Harvard's fault, but I really wish forhis sake and ours that they had been more gentle.

"Did they do everything they absolutely could?"Giroux asked.

Others, who knew Hansen from his Milton days,said that his relationship with his parents, notHarvard, was at the heart of his action.

Hansen was his parents' only child, and theyadored him to the point of suffocation, onestudent said.

His parents had insisted that he live with themin Somerville, said the student, who spoke oncondition of anonymity.

"He had a long walk on his commute to school,"Giroux said. "I'm not sure if he ever felt welcomeat Harvard, if he ever felt at home here."

"Even though he was an outstanding student,maybe he wasn't comfortable with being surroundedby people who weren't as sincere and compassionateabout their studies as he was," Giroux said.

"He was very gentle, very sensitive and couldbe hurt very easily," Giroux said.

Hansen is the second Harvard undergraduate tocommit suicide this year.

Dominic J. Armijo '95, of Kirkland House,killed himself on January 22.

Last week, Katherine Louise Tucker '94, also ofDunster House, who had stayed in Cambridge to takevoice lessons and sing with the Harvard-RadcliffeCollegium Musicum, committed suicide as well