(U-WIRE) CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Harvard junior David L. Okrent, a physics concentrator in Cabot House, was found stabbed Sunday morning on Revere Beach in Boston.
Okrent, a native of Evanston, Ill., was pronounced dead on arrival at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) shortly after 6:30 a.m. He was 20.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, a man walking his dog found Okrent, who had a single stab wound to the neck. Officials said Okrent was still alive when authorities arrived on the scene.
According to several Cabot House residents, students were told at an informational meeting last night that Okrent had been present at Saturday's "Cabot Underground" dance and was last seen at 1:30 a.m. Any students who saw Okrent after that time are instructed to contact police.
Okrent's death is being investigated by the Massachusetts state police as a "possible homicide," said James M. Bourgesanie, press secretary for the Suffolk County district attorney's office.
Bourgesanie did not rule out the possibility of suicide, saying Okrent's wound could have been self-inflicted.
Harvard spokesperson Alex Hupp said the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) is assisting in the investigation.
Autopsy results are still pending and are expected to be released today.
Janice and James C. Ware, masters of Cabot House, held an informal meeting in their residence last night for Okrent's close friends. James Ware said more than 50 students came to express their feelings of grief and loss.
The Wares told students last night that Okrent's roommates will be flying to Chicago today to visit his family and attend funeral services, which are tentatively planned for Wednesday.
Lawrence Okrent, David's father, said the family learned family learned of their son's death early yesterday morning.
"I was sitting at the breakfast table when somebody from some sort of Massachusetts organ donor organization called," he said. The call came between 8 and 9 a.m.
The caller asked Okrent if he would like to contribute his son's organs, but hung up when he realized that the father had not yet learned the news of his son's death.
"My adrenaline was just released in a very large volume," Okrent said. "I was very concerned but I didn't want to let my wife know."
Okrent called his son's room, only to get the answering machine. He then called Robert H. Neugeboren '83, the Cabot House senior tutor, and was notified of his son's death by Neugeboren's wife.
Huppe said the University has been in contact with Okrent's family throughout the day, and had refrained from notifying them of their son's death at the request of the police.
"Massachusetts state police told our officials that they would contact the parents through the Evanston police," Huppe said.
"They said it was essential that they do so for their procedures," Huppe added.
Huppe said the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary went ahead and called Okrent's family despite police procedures.
"They should be called to task for that," he said.
Lawrence Okrent said Evanston police did come to the family's home at about 10 a.m. with the news.
"At that point," he said, "there was nothing they could tell us that we didn't already know."
Neugeboren said he-accompanied by HUPD officers-notified Okrent's roommates at about 7:30 a.m. yesterday.
Neugeboren said they went to Okrent's residence "to see if there was anything in the room that would tell us why he was in Revere."
The Wares were notified early this morning of the news. According to James Ware, tutors were notified throughout the day.
"Everyone's really in shock right now," James Ware said. "We're notifying individuals."
He said counseling services will be available for any Cabot House resident and last night students received a handout detailing ways to deal with a traumatic experience.
Friends, Family React
Those at Harvard who knew Okrent-who went by the nickname "Oak"-described him as a great friend.
"He's been a really amazing person ever since high school," said Rebecca C. Weiss '99, who attended Evanston Township High School in Evanston, Ill. with Okrent.
"In high school, there was no one who was better-liked than him," Weiss said.
"His most outstanding feature was that he was so well-liked by so many people [in high school], and the same is true here," she added.
Okrent, who played rugby at Harvard, committed himself to public service during high school. During his senior year, he received the school's Cunningham Award, an honor voted by the senior class for a senior who best exemplifies the qualities of leadership, public service and academic achievement.
"He never put on airs. He never sought to embellish himself in a pretentious way," said Lawrence Okrent.
"He was a great kid," Okrent added. "When he was growing up, we never talked about Harvard. He got into Harvard with the things that came naturally to him."
David Okrent took a semester off from Harvard last spring. He spent the time creating a computer monitoring system for an industrial firm in Chicago, his father said.
"He was not strongly identified to a path quite yet," Lawrence Okrent said, adding that his son had taken electives in music and finance. "He was still tasting things."
David Okrent's first-year entrywaymates said they remembered him as a serious student who always had time for conversations with friends.
"He was very laid-back, so easy to get along with," said Linda Moon '99, who lived upstairs from Okrent as a first-year in Lionel Hall's B entryway.
"He was always there for you when you needed to talk to someone, always there to help you with your homework. He would play his guitar for me," she added.
Okrent's family and friends also remembered his "brilliance" when it came to mathematics.
Okrent, who switched to physics at the beginning of his junior year, served as a course assistant in Math 21b last fall.
Lawrence Okrent, who taught high school math for several years, said by the time David was in eleventh grade, "he knew everything I had ever seen."
"He was brilliant," said long-time friend Daniel M. Ring '99, who also attended Evanston Township High School with Okrent.
"When you're as smart as he is, you expect him just to be in the library studying, but he was popular and committed to students," Ring said.
"He was a real renaissance man," Ring added.
A gathering will be held tonight at 9 p.m. in the Cabot House Living Room to remember Okrent, according to James Ware. Students will read poetry and personal reflections. President Neil L. Rudenstine is expected to attend.
Huppe said a formal campus memorial service is being discussed.
"We are waiting to find out the wishes of the family and of the community," Huppe said.
Okrent is survived by his parents and two older sisters.
-Barbara E. Martinez contributed to the reporting of this story.