andrew thomas cex al jazeera, sydney. >> and a quick reminder: you can keep up to date with all the news on our website, there it is on your screen, the address, aljazeera.com. that's aljazeera.com. >> if one person completes a suicide, it conveys this kind of social message that hey if i'm feeling this kind of pain maybe this is an okay way of dealing with it. >> why was the school dialing with it? why does this keep happening? >> it was so unbelievable that this could happen to a person like madison. >> the goal is to make sure that

there are meaningful changes so that parents are going to their children's graduations and not to their funerals. >> welcome to this special edition of "america tonight." i'm lisa fletcher. campus suicide. it is the second leading cause of death among college kids in america. roughly 1100 kids die by suicide every year. and report says thousands more think about it. university of pennsylvania campus, brilliant students, gifted athletes and limitless futures. but in the past two years too many lives have ended tragically. tonight we speak to the loved ones left behind. so many questions, so few answers. we begin with the story of timothy hamlet. >> this is tim's room. >> the undeniable love a mother

has for her child is no more evident than inside the hamlet household. even inside timothy's bedroom that today remains mostly untouched. >> you know i can't tell you how many times i've cried in this room and just like broke down. and can't tell you how many times. and i will continue to do that. you know i have conversations with him in this room. i can't talk about this anymore. >> katherine hamlet sat down with "america tonight" just five months after she learned her only child had passed away. with no answers to why he made the unthinkable choice. so when you were first notified of his disappearance what was going through your head? >> he wasn't answering our texts. so immediately i was looking for

him, and we filed a police report right away. it never crossed my mind that my child would die by suicide. and it never dawned on me that he would jump off a bridge. so much so, that while we were searching in the washington heights area, i remember saying to someone, well, at least we know one thing: we know he didn't jump. the irony of that statement is critically important for other parents. because the stereotype of what suicide looks like is not really what it is. i never knew that suicide was the number 2 cause of death for college students. i never knew that. >> reporter: what katherine did know is that for two years timothy had been a gifted student athlete at the university of pennsylvania. he set school records impressing his coaches and teammates.

but in his sophomore year his behavior started to change. >> i 98 or may not be able to be there -- i may or may not be there. >> he was already seeing professionals the concerned parents pulled their son from school to took a leave of absence in november 2013. >> i wish i knew more bit in hindsight, i feel responsible as his mom. as his mother i bear the ultimate responsibility what happens to my son. not knowing mental health, not understanding you know the changes i'm not quite sure what they do there. what resources they have available. >> the family would celebrate christmas together. the following day, timothy left their teaneck new jersey home and never returned. six months later, on may 29th,

this year, police discovered his body in the hudson river. timothy had jumped from the george washington bridge. his death was ruled a suicide. >> i spent six months following his disappearance, talking to his friends talking to his family learning who he was, i got intimately connected to the story and understanding who he is. >> david khan is a sophomore at u penn school of business. he covered the story for the student newspaper. >> at what point did it come into focus for you? >> a lot of it came when he was found dead, i actively reconciled that to determining he was going to be found alive, i want to meet this guy, he sounds like a lot of fun, now he died by suicide, what made him make that decision, what is the school doing about it, why does this keep lapping?

>> reporter: the mystery of what happened to timothy inspired this 19-year-old to look to his fellow students and his university and ask how did this tragedy occur? >> what do you think it is? >> that is toughest question. >> right. >> definitely has a lot to do with the pressure. there's a lot of academic pressure, a lot of social pressure, these athletes there is a lot of athletic pressure and a lot of times that comes together and when you combine it with a culture that won't acknowledge it, that everyone had to be the perfect star to get into these schools, especially at these universities, they don't want to acknowledge they are struggling. >> from february 2013 to december 2014, there had been eight suicides, before timothy became number 9. countless others khan says suffer in silence. there is a name for it, penn face, students are struggling

but pretend everything is fine. >> look like we're coping, that's where penn face comes from. >> students have a name for this yet the university as you said isn't doing enough. it's ironic it has such prominence but little is being done. >> mental health affects everyone, that it affects nobody. the university is convinced by our penn faces, i would say our university president has a penn face too. and so does most of the administration, if the students are going to pretend, the administration is going to pretend they're okay. they are not going to address the underlying causes there. >> when you have a population of 100,000, search people are going to die by suicide, it's what the statistics are. >> there needs to be a distinction drawn, these are the

statistics, we can't do anything about it, and saying, these are the statistics, we're going to do tangible things about it. >> not the only shocking discovery that katherine would make. >> we're here to fully get into the nuances of everything that's going on, not just in this country, but around the world. >> ...as if there were no cameras here, would be the best solution. >> this goes to the heart of the argument >> to tell you the stories that others won't cover. how big do you see this getting? getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> we're here to provide the analysis... the context... and the reporting that allows you to make sense of your world. >> ali velshi on target only on al jazeera america

>> welcome back to this special edition of americans. i'm lisa fletche americans. i'm lisa fletcher. between december 2013 and june 2014, there were eight suicides, before timothy hamlet became number 9. his mother turned this into an opportunity for change. katherine hamlet lost her only son timothy to suicide just five months ago. he was a gifted student and ran track at the university of pennsylvania. >> right now it feels like hell on earth but i can tell you and anybody else that i know what heaven feels like because there has for me been nothing more beautiful than to have a child that we've created out of love .

and to love him. and share his earthly presence. >> congratulations. >> how do you feel? >> and have a family. >> this is an interview. >> a finance major named david khan had been reporting on her son's untimely tet for u penn's newspaper. the two formed an unlikely bond whether this young student decided to break down the stigma of mental illness and a grieving mother turned the loss of her only child into change. >> the reality is that my son died by suicide. he was a student there and hopefully he will be the last student at penn to die by suicide. that's the goal. let's make timothy hamlet the last student at u penn to die by suicide. >> the result of their

class collaboration, the timothy hamlet foundation. the ability to schedule appointments online, things not available to katherine's son. >> we have not called down. we would think these things happen, and people move on, people have not moved on. >> students delivered the names of u penn's suicide victims including timothy. >> this is the center of campus. this is the through way through which everyone passes. the silent march had a lot of power. people aren't speaking march through the center of campus. everyone was affected by this issue. every one we passed by, silenced.

they are not confidence confidant enough to talk about it. >> "america tonight" repeatedly requested interviews to the head of the university. we were told his schedule was full. as for u penn's president, we are told her schedule is booked many weeks, in some cases months in advance. >> president guttman had not time to speak to us. >> that's right, we were unable to speak with her. basically all the student leaders in campus got together after timothy was found and we got together and we said it's time for achange. we're not going to lay out every single thing that you need to do but we're going to lay out a framework and we want to have a framework about it. >> but the university of pennsylvania isn't alone.

six students died by suicide at mit in six months. and cornell received the dubious title of suicide school in the 2009-2010 academic year. >> suicide is a rare event and influenced by contagion and clustering. if one person completes a suicide in a defined population it creates a risk for everyone in that population. creates a social message that hey if i'm feeling this kind of pain maybe this is okay way to deal with it. >> up to 90% of the students who die by suicide were not receiving help from college counseling centers. a statistic katherine is determined to change. >> parents who have preceded this in this circumstance it was a moment in the headline or a moment for the school and then

things sort of get swept under the rug and it's business as usual. what's going to happen in the wake of timothy's death in that regard? >> well, it's not going to be business as usual. i hope that he is the last suicide at penn. our family is devastated. other families have been devastated. individually and collectively, we certainly have the intellectual fire power and the resources that we can do better. the goal is to make sure that there are meaningful exchanges, so that parents are going to their children's graduations and not to their funerals. >> one in ten college students seriously considers suicide. and like timothy who was dealing with the stress of academics and athletics, many who have those thoughts won't tell anyone.

the numbers don't and end there. the suicide rates among young adults, 18 to 24, has trip led, an increase in 200%, the second most common cause of death among college students. balancing act between access to counselors and treatment. >> if we want to lower stigma get in as many people as we get the in, there's less counselor providing ongoing treatment and care. that's an ongoing conversation, at every university, how many staff should you have? make it meaningful and not making billions of dollars. >> katherine knew nothing about suicide before her son's death. but she's determined to change that for others to honor her son's memory. >> you became aware of your son's death five months ago.

your compose your is stunning. where do you find the strength? >> there is not a day that i don't absolutely cry and just you know, just -- i miss him terribly. i look back on a conversation that i had with him when he was young. i said to him that you know, your life can be beautiful without me. i never thought that i would have to try to have it the other way, where i'd have to try to make a beautiful life without him. there's no reason why there should be anyone else in this situation. it's my son. i have to -- have to honor him. and i have to make him proud of me. he's got to be proud of his mama. he's got to be. at least i'm going to try. >> when we come back, changing the law in new jersey. a teacher grieving the loss of

yet another u penn students wants to force schools to be transparent about student suicides and provide help before they happen

>> welcome back to this special edition of "america tonight." i'm lisa fletcher. madison's life seemed perfect, she was a star athlete and an ivy league scholar. she was pained. a teacher deeply moved by his

student's death and convinced that her life offers an important lesson. >> so madison's pictures has taken the place of your family on your facebook page right now. >> yes, they have. i have my family in front of me. that's all i have left of madison right now. >> edward modica taught middle school for 37 years, here at brookside in northern new jersey. over the years the holler ran children, her images replace the images of his wife and their children. this couldn't happen, to a child like madison. when you looked at her yo saw a

perfect individual. >> a small scenic place filled with historic homes and tightly knit families. in high school, madison was a popular student. she had good grades, was athletic, running track. and playing soccer. when college came calling she wanted nothing but the best, ultimately deciding on the university of pennsylvania. where she had a double major. and continued to run track and field. >> attractive, looked like a wonderful future. just get through four years. she could run truck what she also loved to do. and i think grandeur of u penn, ivy league school really took madison in the beginning. but when she got there she realized it wasn't all it was pepped up to be. she couldn't build the same

social network she had here. >> those issues happened to be worse than 9/11 would suspect. online the 19-year-old seemed to be the face of perfection. her smile filled the page of social media. but on january 17th, 2014, everything changed. she posted this photo of r rvetionttenhouse square. an hour later, madison jumped from the ninth floor of this downtown parking garage. >> there was a point at which she reached out for help. what was she met with from u penn? >> she told them she felt suicidal . they referred her to a student, she wasn't satisfied with that person, it was a two week waiting period for her to see a actual counselor at u penn.

that is unacceptable. when somebody is feeling overwhelmed and somebody needs immediate help, you can't tell them to wait two weeks. >> tragically, madison's story is not the first at u pen. from december 2013 to december 2014, there were eight deaths, at mit seven students died from suicide from march 2014 to september 2015. >> a number of kids said jeez he's a full professor of physics. if he can be depressed, i can be depressed. >> and if he can get well -- >> i can get well. professor john bell has taught physics at r for 44 years. he talks about his own battle with depression.

>> this is an age where people are very vulnerable. that is one of the reasons i'm very clear about having been depressed and having come back from that. to an 18-year-old, they feel that they're never going to recover. so i think it's important for people who have been through mental health challenges, to be very transparent about it, because it normalizes to an 18-year-old that this is something they can live through and thrive. >> reporter: stress and feelings of inadequacy among student here is so common, there's a name for it, impostor syndrome. >> what do you think of this idea of impostor syndrome? >> well, i used to have impostor syndrome. i did well academically. i went to cal tech, i went to mit, i got tenure. you look around and everybody presents a very polished face and you start to think that

you're the only one that is struggling. because everybody else seems to be swimming along with no effort. i think that is an issue at mit, because we have such a talented student body. >> presenting a polished face is also an issue at u penn except here it's called penn face. >> do you think any of that may have been at play with madison? >> most definitely. when madison looked at facebook and other social media, she saw pictures of happy students. and madison, in turn, i think, posted pictures that showed her self being as very happy and very content. but she wasn't. she was thrust into a group of young adults where being on top didn't come easily to her anymore. >> madison's death has moved this retired teacher so much he's pushing for a new law. >> on january 17th, a former

student of mine took her own life. madison holleran was a student at u penn. her suicide left a void in the hearts of so many people in the united states. i want you to be accountable for universities to list the number of suicides or potential suicides on their campuses annually. >> he believes that universities need to be part of the solution and for that to happen transparency is necessary. his goal is to make it a requirement for colleges to list the number of suicides and attempted suicides on their campuses annually. and provide certified prevention counselors to students. something madison never had. >> i made a promise to madison, i do pray to her, i talk to her. i tell her that we're going to make things better for the next person that comes up.

we're going to make things easier, decisions easier, trying to have mental health facilities that weren't available for you, available for the next student. we can't bring her back but we can try to save some of her friends. >> thanks for joining us for this special edition of "america tonight." check out aljazeera.com/americatonight and talk to us on facebook and twitter, good night. >> we are scared. >>...have an organized right-wing movement trying to kill others. al jazeera america gives you the total news experience anytime, anywhere. more on every screen. digital, mobile, social. visit aljazeera.com.

follow @ajam on twitter. and like aljazeera america on facebook for more stories, more access, more conversations. so you don't just stay on top of the news, go deeper and get more perspectives on every issue. al jazeera america. velshi. "on target" tonight. please under the gun. troubled departments try to reform the ranks and weed out bad cops. plus split second decision. police officers put to the test with life or death drill on the use of lethal force. plarmingtpolice departments acrs