Although resigned to the possibility that questions about his son's mysterious death may never be resolved, Steven Nisenfeld plans to pursue an appeal after a federal judge recently dismissed allegations that officials at Roger Williams University acted with negligence in the case.

In rejecting two counts in a wrongful-death suit, US Magistrate Robert W. Lovegreen wrote that if a university was liable for whatever occurred on its campus, "the university would need absolute control over the students' activities, which is a result that defies reality and logic," the Associated Press reported. Steven Nisenfeld, though, in a recent statement to the Phoenix, says, "Lovegreen's decision does a disservice to all [the] parents and students who might one day -- unfortunately -- experience what happened to Bryan Nisenfeld and his family."

Bryan Nisenfeld, an 18-year-old from Audubon, New Jersey, disappeared after leaving a midday literature class at Roger Williams University on February 6, 1997. His death remained a mystery even after a few of his bones washed up on Hog Island in Narragansett Bay in August 1997. State police didn't find any suspicious activity in connection with Bryan's disappearance or death, and the small amount of physical evidence precluded an autopsy.

In January 2000, however, Steven Nisenfeld found what he considered a smoking gun when he reviewed a state police report: an RWU security officer perceived a disagreement between Bryan and a male former student as a possible romantic scrap. Because of this, Steven Nisenfeld believes, college officials didn't take seriously a threat to Bryan and botched the chance for an intervention that might have saved his life (see "A sense of doubt," News, March 16, 2000).

Nisenfeld was amazed that RWU officials took six days to notify him that his son was missing. Armed with the argument that anti-gay bias was a factor in Bryan's death (it remains unclear if Bryan was gay or straight), Nisenfeld and Bryan's mother, Marianne C. Brown, filed a civil suit against RWU and university officials in US District Court in Providence.

Now, after Lovegreen dismissed the two counts against RWU, Nisenfeld criticizes the lost opportunity to interview former students and past and present administrators. "We must now dedicate ourselves to the appeals process," he says. "We are dedicated for as long as it takes to reach the correct resolution of this case."

Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis[a]phx.com.

Issue Date: December 28, 2001 - January 3, 2002