Eliezer Schwartz '04, known as Elie to friends and family, fell from the third-story balcony of a Gloucester apartment building Saturday afternoon and died early Sunday morning. He was 21.According to Stephen O'Connell, a spokesperson for the Essex County district attorney's office, Gloucester police responded to an emergency call at 4:25 p.m. Saturday.

O'Connell said Elie was transported to the Addison Gilbert Hospital where after undergoing surgery, he was pronounced dead at 2:25 a.m.

While the circumstances surrounding Elie's death are still somewhat unclear, the Boston Globe printed a story today in which an unidentified law enforcement official reported that Schwartz may have ingested hallucinogenic mushrooms, prompting his fall.

An autopsy is being conducted at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Boston to determine the official cause of death.

"As a matter of course, a toxicology report will be included in the autopsy," O'Connell said. "I am investigating possible drug use among the participants at the party."

O'Connell said foul play was not suspected at this time.

Elie was captain of the Men's Rugby Team, a Zeta Beta Tau fraternity brother and was regarded around campus as an intelligent, humorous and caring person.

A memorial service was held Sunday night, where mourners gathered at a crowded Berlin Chapel.

The service was lead by Jewish Chaplin Rabbi Allan Lehmann.

"I just keep saying to myself this should not be happening," Lehmann said. "This is not how we want to come together."

Lehmann stressed that the community needs to muster support from each other.

"I am going to ask that we spend a few minutes in a silent embrace of what we have here together," Lehmann said.

After Lehmann was done speaking, he invited those present to make some remarks.

The Rugby Team reflected on Elie's ability to spread joy.

"I will always remember how he taught us to smile," one teammate said. "Elie was one of my best friends and he taught me to laugh."

Members of the Brandeis Administration attended the service to offer their support.

"We are here to help you," Assistant Dean of Student Life Alwina Bennett said. "Please, let some of us who have experienced losses in our life help you."

One of Elie's teammates, Alexander Goldstein '06, later said, "Elie was the epitome of what you would call a team player. He was our captain."

Elie, a budding entrepreneur, was an economics major who made an impression on Prof. Harry Coiner (ECON).

"Elie Schwartz was a wonderful student," Coiner said. "He was just an incredibly nice person. I got to know him best a couple of years ago in the Economics of Education course which has a fair amount of class discussion. He contributed a lot to that class and his comments were thoughtful and valuable and he really made that a better course.

"He was certainly a scholar. He worked very hard and he brought a great deal of intelligence to everything that he studied. I am sure he would have done something important."

"It does not compute and it does not seem real," Lehmann said. "When you sustain a loss, there is no one way it happens. But it usually does not happen all at one time. For many people, the first reaction is one of shock. Sometimes, even a sense of numbness and a sense of unreality."

"For us, it was like losing a brother," Goldstein said.

President Jehuda Reinharz sent an all-campus e-mail on Sunday expressing the University's condolences.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Elie's family, and I know that all members of the Brandeis community join with me in extending deepest sympathy and condolences to Elie's mother and father, his brother Moshe '99 and Moshe's fiancee, Aviva Sklare '00, his sister Avital '02 and his sister, Hadar, who is a first-year student at Barnard College," Reinharz wrote.

The funeral for Elie occurred this morning in New York City.

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Editor's Note: A professional counselor will be available Thursday at 8 p.m. to speak with students coping with Elie's death in Mailman Psychological Counseling Center.