The Digest:
Oreoluwa Odetunde, a Nigerian graduate of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and first-year MBA student at Cornell University's S.C. Johnson College of Business, has been found dead in her off-campus residence in New York. Odetunde, who earned her bachelor's degree in economics from UNILAG in 2017, was actively involved in student organisations including the Johnson African Business Society and the Black Graduate Business Association. She was a Forté Fellow and Sage Scholar with experience at Anchoria Asset Management and Greenwich Merchant Bank. Cornell University expressed devastation, holding support meetings for the community on February 6 and 9. A LinkedIn post from the Cornell Johnson Graduate School extended "deepest condolences" to her family, friends, and classmates.
Key Points:
- The tragedy devastates Odetunde's family in Nigeria and the Cornell community in the US.
- It highlights the pressures and vulnerabilities faced by international students abroad.
- Loved ones mourn an exceptional scholar, while Cornell provides grief counselling.
- This signals the profound loss of a promising young academic and future business leader.
- The timing, early in her MBA programme, underscores the tragedy's untimeliness.
The Cornell community continues to mourn Odetunde, with support services available as investigations into her death proceed.
Sources: Vanguard, The Cornell Daily Sun, Cornell Johnson Graduate School
