Notre Dame student falls from roof, dies day before graduation

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A University of Notre Dame student set to graduate this weekend died early Saturday morning after falling from the roof of a campus building, according to a university media release.

William Meckling, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering major, was found dead on the ground on the east side of the Joyce Center, which houses the basketball arena.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends after this terrible tragedy,” Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., the University president, said. “It is a profound sadness for all of us, on this graduation weekend, to lose someone so young and brimming with promise.”

Meckling was a member of the Notre Dame fencing team. He was from Centennial, Colo.

A Notre Dame Security Police lieutenant on patrol around 3:45 a.m. was approached by two students who led him to the body.

An initial investigation indicates that the ND senior was with a small group of students who gained access to the roof from outside the building. The roof was wet from overnight rain.

No one else was injured.

He was set to graduate Sunday.