Wei Ho ’09 mysteriously disappeared without a trace last Friday morning. While his close friends agreed he had left the area on his own accord, Public Safety issued a campus-wide alert expressing a deep concern over his welfare.

Thankfully, the University’s fears were unfounded, and Ho was located yesterday – all the way in San Francisco.

As he was found completely unharmed, the purported theory put forth by Ho’s roommate, Daniel Douglas ’09, that he had left Princeton to seek respite from the rigors of academia appears to have panned out.

The Daily Princetonian reports:

Ho was found by the San Francisco Police Department, which Public Safety contacted after its investigation revealed that Ho was in the San Francisco area, the alert said, adding that “there was no foul play involved in this case and Ho’s parents are now with him in San Francisco.”

The computer science concentrator from Chamblee, Ga., was located around noon Tuesday, Public Safety director Steven Healy said.

[…]While the original alert expressed concern for Ho’s safety, he traveled to San Francisco of his own will and was found unharmed, Healy said.

Is it really so academically strenuous at Princeton that one must travel cross-country for solace? Hardly, but if a student wants to take a break, that’s his own prerogative.

The entire affair is absurd, and a commenter on the Princetonian’s article hit the proverbial nail on the head as to why:

Only at princeton will a grown man who wants to take a break from school be tracked to the ends of the earth. The funniest part about it is, the university officials don't even realize how silly they sound. They couldn't imagine why anyone would ever want to leave glorious Princeton University, so they assumed something must be wrong with the kid.

Amen.