Nathan Boals, a 21-year-old senior communications studies major was found dead at the bottom of a Paris stairwell on July 8, 2007. He was studying abroad with 18 other students, led by faculty member Kenneth Levine. Foul play was not suspected. The students had visited a Paris nightclub earlier in the evening, and Boals became separated from the group.
In December 2007 a group, including communications studies students, faculty, family, and friends, held a scholarship walk at Circle Park to raise money for a scholarship in Boals’s honor. The event was initiated by the Communications Studies Club and was sponsored by 21 local businesses. The event raised more than $3,500. Other events, such as the November 2008 Polar Bear Plunge at TRECS, have been held to support the memorial scholarship.