Relatives of Ernesto Carreón Olvera on Thursday accused that school pressure at ITAM caused the young man to commit suicide. On this case, the institution claims that Ernesto was not enrolled as a student in the semester that elapses, but his mother says that is false, that he was an active student.
“Ernesto expressed the stress to the fullest, he felt very pressured by the school, by the demand, it is something that he manifested and communicated that many of his classmates also felt,” his sister, Fernanda Tenorio, told the newspaper Reforma, after attending the tribute that was made to the young person on the campus.
“What led him to this situation is that he (Ernesto) failed an exam, as it was decisive to continue or not in school, he was under conditioning, if he did not pass the matter, he would have to recuse it again, which pushed him even more,” Ernesto’s mother told the daily Millennium.
As the relatives recounted, Ernesto failed the exam by a tenth.
“We no longer want another family that has a broken heart, my son loved ITAM, my son loved ITAM, but at ITAM there are some authorities who think that the academic demand they impart is synonymous with pushing and students craving them, and I think they are totally wrong,” said Gerardo Carreón Valdez, Ernesto’s father, according to Reforma.
ITAM, on its Twitter account, reported on Ernesto’s death on February 11, saying he was a member of his community “until last year.”
To the ITAM community: pic.twitter.com/dlVZ001GqC
— ITAM (@ITAM_mx) February 12, 2020
However, her mother, in an interview with Telediario, said that ITAM is lying, that Ernesto took an exam on January 13th and she has proof of payment that proves she was an active student.
“There’s everything about him being a student at the school,” Ruth Olvera said. “Of course, my son is an ITAM student.”
☎ Ruth Olvera, Ernesto’s mother who in days gone by, claims that he did belong to ITAM and what the school signed, was not true, #TelediarioEnEl6 with @azucenau and @janupi https://t.co/VqUPqVxLBf pic.twitter.com/BHJpp8vRaw
— Telediario Mx (@telediario) February 13, 2020
Animal Political called the Communication area of ITAM. There they insisted that Ernesto was not enrolled at the Institute this semester. “He did take an exam, but it corresponded to the last semester,” they said.
“We will no longer delve into the subject. i wasn’t registered.”
On their Twitter account, the ITAM Student Council published the following message: “We regret the significant loss of our partner Gerardo Ernesto Carreón Olvera, who was and always will be part of our community.”
In December last year, the case of the death of María Fernanda Michua Gantus, a student of ITAM’s law and international relations degrees, was known.
Her mother, Fernanda Gantus, confirmed that Maria Fernanda died after “a prolonged attack of epilepsy that her body did not resist.”
Although he ruled out suicide, Fernanda’s mother said the latest epilepsy attack “was due to the great stress she was exposed to by the studies and her grandmother’s sensitive loss in recent months.”
The case of María Fernanda sparked protests from students, who demanded pressure on ITAM and a lack of attention to the mental health of the students. The institution announced different measures to address this problem.
Find out: After student protest, ITAM reschedules exams and announces an action plan
With information from Andrea Vega
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