A Stunned UC System Tries to Make Sense of a Tragedy

On the University of California’s quiet campus here and throughout the UC system Monday, friends and colleagues of Denice Dee Denton struggled to find answers to a question that may ultimately be unknowable:

What factors might have driven Denton, the 46-year-old chancellor of UC Santa Cruz, to take an apparent suicide leap from a San Francisco skyscraper Saturday, falling to her death on a rooftop below?

Many of those who knew Denton, an accomplished scientist who was the first openly gay campus leader in the UC system, said they were aware that she had been wrestling with a variety of difficult issues in recent months, but that an obvious triggering event, or series of events, eluded them.

“I think we’re all searching for answers,” said UC Merced Chancellor Carol Tomlinson-Keasey, who had spoken with Denton several times recently and was among a handful of UC chancellors whose counsel she often sought. “I can point to multiple stresses that she had, but I don’t know of one single precipitating factor.”

Denton was one of the youngest UC chancellors in memory. Several associates said that Denton, who became chancellor of UC Santa Cruz in February 2005 after serving as dean of engineering at the University of Washington, had overcome many obstacles in her own career and was known for her strength and resilience in tough times.

“She could go into some very difficult situations and know what needed to be done,” said Vicki M. Bier, an engineering professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where Denton taught in the 1980s and ‘90s. “I think that is part of why it has been such a surprise to people, because she had been through a number of difficult situations in her life and came back to fight. So I don’t know what was different this time.”

Denton’s body was found early Saturday on the roof of a parking structure below the 43-story apartment building in San Francisco where her partner of more than eight years, Gretchen Kalonji, lived. Kalonji, a senior administrator at the university’s Oakland headquarters, was in Washington, D.C., on university business at the time, UC officials said.

Kalonji has made no comment on her partner’s death and on Monday was with Denton’s mother, brother and two sisters, all from Texas, at the chancellor’s campus residence. A security guard was posted at the foot of the driveway.

San Francisco police would not comment Monday, saying they do not investigate suicides. Officials at the San Francisco medical examiner’s office said they could not confirm that the death was a suicide.

“The death is still under investigation,” said investigator Alan Pringle, who said further information would not be available for weeks.

Pringle also said he was not aware if Denton had left a note or anything that might indicate a reason for her actions.

Reached by telephone at her home in Texas, Denton’s godmother and aunt, who asked not to be identified by name, said she was torn by conflicting emotions. “One minute I’m despondent and the next I’m angry,” she said. “Geographically, we were a long way from each other. But we were extremely close.”

She said she last saw her niece last year, when she stayed with her for 10 days soon after Denton accepted the Santa Cruz job, but they e-mailed each other frequently.

“I can’t think of her without laughing because she was so humorous and upbeat and alive,” she said. “It’s just a tragic thing.”

The aunt said she and her husband were planning to visit Denton next month and had been exchanging e-mails to finalize the dates. She said Denton gave no indication of being sad or depressed.

She said Denton had been treated for throat cancer years ago, when she was earning her doctorate in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but added she did not think it had anything to do with her death.

Denton had recently taken a short medical leave, beginning June 15, but was scheduled to return to work Monday, university officials said. They would not discuss the reason for the leave, saying such information is considered private.

Cynthia Mathews, mayor of Santa Cruz, said the last time she saw Denton, at a gay pride event held on campus in early June, she seemed “very positive and upbeat.”

“I was just as stunned as everybody else when I heard the news,” she said.

Stephen Thorsett, dean of physical and biological sciences at UC Santa Cruz, said Denton had endured some difficulties since her arrival on the campus and may still have been adjusting to her job.

But at a recent meeting with members of the university foundation, she seemed more comfortable and upbeat, he said. “That’s why this came as such a shock,” he said.

Those interviewed, including friends and UC colleagues, professors and students, said that a number of issues appeared to have been weighing on Denton in recent months, noting that even before her leave, she had canceled a number of appointments. She also missed the campus’ recent commencement exercises.

Tomlinson-Keasey, the Merced chancellor, said Denton spoke over the months about many subjects that were troubling her. Those included community tensions over a long-range campus development plan and some ongoing -- though slowly fading -- criticism of a number of expensive recent upgrades to Denton’s 40-year-old campus residence.

Denton also was upset by several incidents of vandalism and protest on the campus last year, including one in which a metal sawhorse was thrown through a heavy plate-glass window at the back of her residence, several of those interviewed said. Denton was alone in the home at the time.

Denton’s name also surfaced in a UC compensation controversy that led to criticism of many of the university’s senior administrators. Denton came under fire for benefits that were not disclosed at the time of her hiring -- including a $30,000 dog run that was part of a $600,000 package of approved renovations to her residence.

In other instances, students protesting various issues camped outside her residence, demanding to see her.

“She happened to arrive at a time when the whole university was under scrutiny.... “ said campus spokeswoman Elizabeth Irwin. “She was always calm, with a respectful perspective, but how she internalized it, no one knows. People can be cruel in what they say, forgetting that behind the public figure is a real person.”

UC Santa Cruz officials said a memorial and celebration of Denton’s life will be held on campus at 10 a.m. Thursday.

At the school, where relatively few students are in attendance for the summer session, there were subdued signs of mourning and remembrance Monday.

At the university’s administration building, a running slide show about Denton and her accomplishments played on a screen in the reception area. Students, staff and faculty trickled in throughout the day to sign condolence cards.

A handful of flower arrangements sat at the campus entrance beneath a photograph of a smiling Denton. One bouquet was signed by the staff of the career center. Another was adorned with a cheerful Mylar balloon: “You’ll be missed,” it read. Single lilies lay scattered near the photograph.

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Romney reported from Santa Cruz, Trounson from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Stephen Clark and Larry Gordon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.