A Georgetown University student athlete has plummeted from the fifth floor of her Villlage C dormitory window at 37th and O streets NW. Swimmer Michelle Anne Konkoly,18, was ferried to George Washington University Hospital at about 1:30 this morning with injuries like a broken foot and punctured lung. School officials say it was an accident. Konkoly is in serious condition. Reportedly, Konkoly doesn’t remember what happened but does remember opening her window at some point, because she was feeling hot.
The incident brings to mind student Taylor Hubbard,20, who fell to his death from a fifth-floor George Washington University window last May. The last time City Desk checked in with the Metropolitan Police Department about Hubbard’s death investigation, police were still working on it. But they believed his fall was also an accident. MPD hasn’t responded to a request for an update. The D.C. Medical Examiner declared that the cause of Hubbard’s death was blunt trauma, but was unable to determine the manner.
Though two incidents certainly don’t constitute a pattern, the episodes deserve some scrutiny so no other District undergrads end up tumbling. The two falls took place in the wee hours, so one wonders if either partying or grogginess played a role. Since both are often a part of campus life, school administrators may have to get nanny-state about the situation. Following Hubbard’s death, GWU announced it would install window restrictors in its high-rise dorms. Though taking such precautions to protect almost-adults seems to go overboard, remember that there’s a chance brain maturity doesn’t take hold until age 25.