Dylan Simmons, third-year Stanford law student, passes away

Jan. 21, 2022, 5:44 p.m.

Dylan Simmons ’17 M.S. ’17, a third-year Stanford law student, passed away in a campus residence on Thursday night, Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole announced in a message to the community on Friday.

Simmons received a bachelor’s degree in sociology and feminist, gender and sexuality studies and a master’s degree in community health and prevention from Stanford in 2017.

Dean of Stanford Law School Jenny Martinez shared the news with the law school community earlier on Friday afternoon: “Dylan was enrolled in my constitutional law class as a first-year student and stood out to me as a brilliant, compassionate soul with a passion for justice who never hesitated to give time to causes and endeavors that would make our community and world better for all.”

Simmons was the diversity chair of the Stanford Law Review and the vice president of diversity and inclusion at the Stanford Law Association, according to Simmons’ LinkedIn profile. Simmons also served as the president of the Asian Pacific Islander Law Student Association and the president of the Disability and Mental Health Network at Stanford Law School.

“I know this loss will deeply and personally touch a great many of you, and I would like to express my heartfelt condolences and care,” Brubaker-Cole wrote. “Our counseling staff is reaching out now to the law school and many other places where Dylan was known and loved.”

While an undergraduate, Simmons earned the Barbara and Sandy Dornbusch Award for Outstanding Sociology Major. Simmons was also the president of Stanford Students for Queer Liberation. 

Both Brubaker-Cole and Martinez encouraged students in need of support to access campus grief and mental health resources. A gathering sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs was held in the law school student lounge on Friday afternoon with representatives from Counseling and Psychological Services, the Graduate Life Office and the Office of Spiritual Life. More gatherings and support resources will be available in the coming days, according to Martinez.

Georgia Rosenberg is the Vol. 261 executive editor for print. She was previously a Vol. 260 news managing editor and a Vol. 258/259 desk editor for university news. Contact her at grosenberg 'at' stanforddaily.com!

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