University officials are still uncertain how freshman Jill Dieringer contracted the meningococcal disease that killed her early Friday morning.
But her friends and classmates have begun the mourning and healing process as the 19-year-old’s funeral arrangements are planned, and students who lived with her flock to the University Health Center for meningitis antibiotics.
Dieringer, a member of the Kappa Delta sorority who also lived in a single room in Cloran Hall, went to the health center with a sore throat Wednesday. At that time, health center physician Victoria Skellcerf said her conditions did not appear serious or life-threatening.
By the time she admitted herself to Sacred Heart Medical Center shortly after midnight Thursday, Dieringer had a severe headache, fever and a sore throat. But she was in stable condition, Skellcerf said.
Dieringer died Friday morning at Sacred Heart between 4 and 5 a.m.
“That’s fairly typical [of this disease],” Skellcerf said. “Once you get very sick, it progresses very rapidly.”
Skellcerf said blood tests showed meningococcal bacteria in Dieringer’s bloodstream, but it was not narrowed down to meningitis, a form of meningococcal disease affecting the fluid surrounding a person’s brain and spinal cord.
Common symptoms of meningococcal disease include high fevers, headaches and stiff necks. Additional symptoms could range from nausea and vomiting to confusion and sleepiness, according to the Center for Disease Control’s Web site.
“You just don’t expect someone who is young and vibrant to go from having a sore throat one day to dying,” said Mike Eyster, University Housing director. “It’s a terrible shock. We’re still not sure where she got it.”
At a press conference Saturday in the University Housing office, Dieringer’s sorority sisters in Kappa Delta, members of University Housing and one of her professors described her as a future leader in the Greek System, intelligent, giving and “a constant smile.”
“We were really excited to see what she could do in the future,” said Kelsey Mitchell, Kappa Delta president.
Dieringer, an only child from the Portland area, volunteered at a number of places in the Eugene community, including Sacred Heart and Edison Elementary School.

Mitchell added that Dieringer had discussed a general interest in studying medicine, and Kappa Delta members heavily recruited Dieringer to pledge the sorority because of her personality and leadership skills.
Taka Takeuchi, an assistant complex director for Hamilton Complex, which includes Cloran Hall, said Dieringer was one of the first students in the complex to volunteer to be a hall president.
News of Dieringer’s death moved rapidly through the residence halls, and Takeuchi said University counselors held a special meeting for students Friday night in Cloran Hall. Meetings were also held at Kappa Delta.
“I was surprised when I went to my class and students already knew,” Takeuchi said. “In my hall, there was sadness and fear about this disease.”
A person can catch the bacteria that cause meningitis through prolonged or close contact with an infected person. Eyster said such contact can include kissing, sharing the same eating utensils or being coughed upon, but the bacteria cannot survive for more than a few minutes outside of the human body.
Skellcerf added that another risk factor is living in the residence halls, where the small, crowded spaces can create a greater risk of contraction.
She said most of the time when people are exposed to meningococcal disease, their immune systems can handle it without difficulty.
But occasionally, an “invasive disease” occurs, and the person can die within 48 hours. Skellcerf said the invasive disease is so rare that probably less than 1 percent of people who are exposed will develop symptoms.
But while quelling concerns of other cases of meningitis, Dieringer’s friends and sorority sisters are also trying to begin the process of healing and grieving her sudden death. As five of her sorority members held hands, hugged each other and fought back tears on Saturday, they said everyone in the house is dealing with the grief differently.
“It goes in waves, goes in ups and downs, but we’re all there for each other,” Kappa Delta member Amalia Groebe said.
Mitchell said the sorority is discussing turning Dieringer’s tragedy into a philanthropy and raising money for awareness of the disease and how it is spread.
But Kappa Delta member Jackie Reed said those decisions will be made when the pain of their loss goes away, if it ever will completely stop.
“I talked to a friend and she told me … the pain never goes away. You have to get used to it,” she said. “I don’t know why, [but] that’s a comfort to me.”