The parents of Stanford soccer team captain Katie Meyer told NBC that they think their daughter took her own life over possible disciplinary measures the college was taking against her.
Steve and Gina Meyer told NBC News that the only thing they can think of that would have spurred their daughter to such dire actions is that she had received a stream of official letters from the university threatening her with punishment over an incident earlier in the school year.
“This is the only thing that we can come up with that triggered something,” Gina Meyer said, adding, “There is anxiety, and there is stress to be perfect, to be the best, to be No. 1.”
“Katie, being Katie, was defending a teammate on campus over an incident and the repercussions of her defending that teammate (were possibly resulting in disciplinary action),” Steven Meyer told NBC’s TODAY on Friday.
The parents of Stanford University soccer star Katie Meyer are speaking out about her death by suicide with the hopes of helping other families. @stephgosk reports. https://t.co/hXTTpM7RWS pic.twitter.com/sPJReGPSD3
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 4, 2022
“We have not seen that email yet,” Gina added. “She had been getting letters for a couple months. This letter was kind of the final letter that there was going to be a trial or some kind of something. This is the only thing that we can come up with that triggered something.”
The nature of the incident the school was preparing to punish the soccer player for has not been made public.
In a statement to NBC, Stanford University said, “We are not able to share information about confidential student disciplinary matters. We as a university community continue to grieve with Katie’s family and cherish our memories of her.”
Katie was on the verge of graduation, and presumably, the school’s threat was that she would not be able to graduate as punishment for her actions in the undisclosed incident.
Still, Gina Meyer insisted that the last time they spoke to their daughter, the student was “excited” and looking forward to graduation. “She had a lot on her plate. She had a lot going on. But she was happy. She was in great spirits,” Gina said.
“We’re just we’re struggling right now,” Gina concluded. “We are struggling to know what happened, and why it happened. We’re just heartbroken, so heartbroken.”
“We’re just we’re struggling right now,” Gina said. “We are struggling to know what happened, and why it happened. We’re just heartbroken, so heartbroken,” Gina said.
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