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Ferris adjunct communications professor Jessica Joy died Sunday, March 10.
Joy had been teaching communications at Ferris since 2015. Shortly before her death, Joy was removed from her classes due to health issues.
An email was sent to former students of Joy, informing them of her death. Ferris hospitality management freshman Katie Bittner was in Joy’s public speaking class this semester and heard about Joy’s death through the email. Bittner said Joy missed a few classes before she was removed from the position.
“I was sad to hear that. She was always so happy and sent pictures of her dogs to us,” Bittner said. “She did tell us about her health and was very open about it because she did miss some classes due to it.”
Other than the email sent to Joy’s students, there has not been an announcement of Joy’s death via email or on the Ferris website.
“I feel like Ferris did a poor job of handling this. I went to look up her name in hope of finding information and there was nothing. You click on the link to read her Ferris bio and it’s already been deleted. It seems the school has cut all ties from her, which is weird and it makes you feel like something is up. It’s like Jessica Joy has never taught here and that just doesn’t seem right,” Ferris public relations junior Lee McArthur, who had Joy as a public speaking professor last fall, said.
However, Bittner thinks the university handled it well and said their quietness on the situation could be related to how Joy’s family wanted to handle her death.
According to the email sent out to Joy’s students, due to her family’s wishes, there will not be a funeral or memorial service for Joy.
Ferris offers free counseling at the Personal Counseling Center for those grieving Joy’s death.