Sophomore found deceased

Family and friends are mourning a 19-year-old sophomore found dead in her dorm room in Wilson College on Sunday, remembering a young woman with unlimited potential.

Melissa Huang, of Mechanicsburg, Pa., was found Sunday afternoon in her 1939 Hall room by her parents and a custodian, the University said.

Her parents, Leon Keng-Lock Huang and Sauling Huang, were visiting.

The cause of the death remains unclear.

Borough Police Chief Charles Davall said there were no signs of criminal activity or visible trauma to her body.

The Mercer County medical examiner's office completed an autopsy on the body Monday after initial tests into the cause of death were inconclusive.

Toxicology reports from the autopsy will not be available for eight to 12 weeks, said Angelo Onofri, a spokesman for the Mercer County prosecutor's office.

He said the coroner had talked to the parents, who had returned home by Tuesday afternoon and did not wish to talk to a reporter. President Tilghman and other officials met with the parents Sunday afternoon.

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Huang is also survived by a brother, Kevin, and a sister, Alina.

A memorial service is planned for a later date.

The last known contact with Huang, a student in the engineering school, occurred Saturday afternoon, Davall said.

The incident is the first on-campus student death since a graduate student committed suicide in January 2003. Upperclass students began to move in Sept. 2, and classes start Thursday.

'Infinitely' missed

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Friends said Huang was a cheerful, supportive and hardworking classmate always willing to lend a hand.

"We did everything together," Lennox Caleb '07 said. "We developed such a bond of mutual support . . . I will infinitely miss her. It's just beyond words."

Caleb described Huang as his "only confidant" at Princeton. She looked out for his wellbeing, calling to wake him up from naps and to urge him to sleep more.

"She helped me to outlet much of what frustrated me, but which I felt I could, should not say to anyone else," he added.

Caleb and Huang spent many hours together, taking long walks to the Engineering Quad. He appreciated her listening intently to him with what he called an "accommodating spirit" and "intense curiosity."

Huang was "endowed with a seemingly limitless capacity to do the right thing," Caleb said.

Last year, Caleb, who faced hurdles as an international student in difficult engineering classes, considered transferring from Princeton.

But Huang was "one of the single most important influences" to dissuade him, he said.

At the end of the year, she wrote him an encouraging letter. Then, over the summer, she wrote him a lengthy email titled, "Come back, come back, come back."

"I was comforted to be in her presence," Caleb said. "She was so constructive and supportive in dealing with others. She exuded such warmth."

Other friends remember laughter-filled late-night sessions.

Felix Huang '06 — who is not a relative of Melissa Huang — said he often stayed up until 3 a.m. with her, playing board games and completing engineering problem sets.

"She seemed always cheerful," he said. "She had lots of friends."

Melissa Huang enjoyed AOL Instant Messenger, and her away messages caught the attention of friends.

A typical message from last year displayed her wit: "Not excited, hyperactive, overjoyed, thrilled, happy, delighted, or ecstatic. Just 100% pure content...not from concentrate," according to a copy Felix Huang stored.

Dedication to work

Huang also was known as a diligent student. She spent her summer doing chemical engineering research with professors Jeffrey Carbeck and Ilhan Aksay.

Alistair Boettiger '07, who worked with Huang over the summer, said he remembered her "very conscientiously working away at her lab bench," sometimes until 10 or 11 p.m.

"It was somewhat frustrating work — taking several weeks to get a data point — but she maintained her dedication to the work, and made sure things were finely done," Boettiger said. "She had the determination to follow things through."

In high school, Huang was active in track and field, band, orchestra and the National Honor Society. She was a National Merit Scholar who graduated fifth in a class of 650 and spoke at the baccalaureate.

"She was an outstanding student here, a great all-around student," said Cumberland Valley High School Principal Dominic Cavallaro. "She always had a smile on her face, always looking to help others. She was a happy person, someone people liked to be around."

"She had so much potential," he said.

A shaken day

Outside 1939 Hall in Wilson College on Sunday, two police cars were on site as concerned students looked on and emotionally distraught staff, residential advisers and officials entered and exited the building.

Police and University officials removed Huang's body in the late afternoon. Shortly afterward, a mattress, still covered in linens, was taken from the building.

The University said the parents entered the room at 1:28 p.m.

Students reported seeing authorities as early as 2 p.m., and several said they couldn't drive into the Wilson College courtyard to move in.

At 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Wilson College held a 20-minute meeting for sophomores to inform them of the death and offer support, including counselors on request.

After the meeting, some students said they were satisfied with the University's response and offered prayers for the student's family.

"The administration is doing a great job responding," Wilson College Council President Bennett Graham '07 said. "I pray that it will continue that way and that the family will continue to have a strong support system for the days and years to come."