Remembering Lauren Blackburn: A Life of Literature, Kindness, and Unfulfilled Potential
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know may have suicidal thoughts, you can call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat online at 988lifeline.org
The Princeton University community mourned the loss of Lauren Blackburn ’26, an English major, who was found dead on campus on Friday, April 25, following a search after being declared missing. The Office of the Medical Examiner for Mercer County ruled the death a suicide. Blackburn’s family released a statement to the University community on April 29 expressing gratitude for the support shown during this difficult time. "The immense support has lightened our hearts and strengthened us in this difficult time. This is a truly special community that our son loved being a part of," they wrote. "He loved learning, the classes, and the many people he met here. We will be forever grateful that he could be a Tiger."
Blackburn's passing marks the sixth undergraduate death ruled a suicide or related to mental health in the past three years, highlighting the ongoing need for mental health support and awareness within the university environment.
A Passion for Literature and a Gift for Prose
Lauren Blackburn was remembered by friends and family for his gentle character and his love of literature. He had a particular fondness for Virginia Woolf. Blackburn was born Aug. 11, 2001, in Oregon. He was 23 years old at the time of his death. He was a National Merit Scholar and a Gates Scholar when he graduated from Corydon Central High School in Indiana. Blackburn took a year to serve on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2020-21.
Those who knew Lauren Blackburn described him as a brilliant writer and scholar with immense potential. Julia Shin ’26, a close friend from his English junior seminar, believed he "could have been the next great contemporary author." Joshua Kotin, who taught Blackburn in the English junior seminar about Paris and New York, noted the "shapeliness to his prose that you don’t typically see" in undergraduate students. Blackburn’s junior paper adviser, Maria DiBattista, shared a special connection with him through their mutual love of Virginia Woolf. “At our first meeting we discovered that both of us felt that To the Lighthouse mirrored our thoughts, feelings, perplexities as no other book quite did,” DiBattista wrote.
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DiBattista and Blackburn explored Woolf’s notions of the self and its relation to history through her late works, particularly "The Years." “Every Monday morning of term, except the last, he would come to my office and we would set about working through his complex ideas about Woolf’s notions of the self and its relation to history,” DiBattista wrote, “this time as presented in one of her late works, The Years, a novel - these are Lauren’s own words now - ‘of repeated approach and retreat, of hazy visions that break apart the moment they begin to come into view.’” She described their relationship as collaborative, "almost co-conspiratorial."
A Kind and Supportive Friend
Beyond his academic talents, Blackburn was a cherished friend known for his kindness and support. Shin told PAW that Blackburn was known among friends to carry stuffed animals and candies with him to study sessions. “He was always ready to comfort you if you were sad,” Shin said. “He would always show up for his friends.” Kelly Kim ’26, another close friend from the junior seminar, expressed her love and gratitude for Blackburn in an Instagram post: “You were the best. You really were the greatest. I should have told you more often but I loved you so much. You were the greatest. I’ve been writing about you but it STILL feels stupid because nothing can convey just how great you are,” Kim wrote. “I am so grateful for you. Thank you for letting me into your life. I am so grateful.”
Shin and Blackburn shared a passion for poetry and dreams of attending graduate school for English. Kotin was supportive of Blackburn’s graduate school dreams - encouragement he didn’t give out lightly. In their last meeting, Kotin said he gave Blackburn advice on what classes he should take senior year to best prepare for graduate school. Blackburn won a 2024 Sam Hutton Fund for the Arts award and “spent that summer in South Korea taking classes and learning more about his Korean roots,” according to his obituary. He also enjoyed K-pop and cheered for the Boston Celtics, Kansas City Chiefs, and Tottenham Hotspur.
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tags: #lauren #blackburn #princeton
