UPDATE: 3/20/10:

The family of a 21-year-old UW-La Crosse student who died on spring break says she passed away in her sleep.

Marie Sumnicht says her daughter, Julia Sumnicht of Hobart, died while visiting Florida. Tests on the cause of death could take several weeks.

Sumnicht was a Junior at UW-L. She graduated from Pulaski High School, which is northwest of Green Bay, in 2007. She died Monday. Funeral services were held Saturday.

3/19/10:
When Communication Studies Professor Tony Docan-Morgan got an email yesterday that said one of his students had died, he couldn’t believe it.

"Kinda felt numb, you know, kinda like, this can’t be true because she was just in class the other day," Docan-Morgan explains.

21-year-old Julia Sumnicht was on a spring break trip in Miami with her friends when she passed away unexpectedly. Her parents have asked that the cause of her death not be released.

Docan-Morgan says Julia recently decided she wanted to major in communications and asked him to be her adviser.

“A lot of our conversations were not only about school stuff, but her love of Brett Favre. On the first day of class she walked in with a Brett Favre jersey and I thought that’s kind of funny, the Vikings just lost. I’m going to have to tease her about this or ask her about it.”

He says besides her love of Brett Favre, Docan-Morgan says Julie was passionate about life.

“And [she] just enjoyed certain things about life in a way that she could share with others and kinda have them laugh about it and it was just fun to connect with her in those types of conversations too.”

When students go back to class on Monday, they’ll have an opportunity to go to a grief support group.

UW-L Dean of Students Paula Knudson says, "Prolly my biggest concern with college students seek to be independent and during the grieving process. That may work for some people, but it’s really that inter and interdependence that we need them to help them get through the process.”

She says they’ll do all they can to make sure students have the resources to go through that process.

"Most of our population has not had to go through a grieving process of somebody who’s lost so they have to learn how they react to it," Knudson explained.

Docan-Morgan says when classes are back in session, he’ll talk with his students and make sure they’re doing alright.

“[We'll] talk about what we might be able to do whether it’s a scholarship or a commemoration ceremony or something.”

For someone who will be dearly missed by the UW-L community.

Julia’s funeral will be tomorrow at Green Bay Community Church, 600 Cardinal Lane, at 4 p.m.

The grief support group for the UW-L the campus community will be held on Monday at 4:30 p.m. at the Cartwright Center in room 332.

There will also be a support group for the students who live in Hutchison Hall on Wednesday. That’s where Julia lived on campus.

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FROM EARLIER TODAY:

The Assistant Chancellor and Dean of Students at UW-La Crosse says a student there has died.

Paula Knudson says the university was notified that junior Julia Sumnicht passed away while on spring break in Florida. She did not specify how she died.

Knudson says Sumnicht was living in Hutchinson Hall and has only been at the university a short time. She has a sister who also goes to UW-La Crosse. A visitation for Julia will be held from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Green Bay Community Church with a funeral to follow.

Knudson says there will be grief counselors available at the university on Monday.