The family of a gay U.S. college student who leaped to his death last year has established a foundation in his name to fight teen suicide and bullying.

Tyler Clementi was just 18 and into his first weeks as a freshman at Rutgers University when he jumped off the George Washington Bridge. 

This occurred days after his roommate allegedly used his webcam to capture him kissing another man in their room. The video was streamed live to a chat group on the Internet.

His death was among a spate of tragedies in 2010 that began a nationwide dialogue about gay teen suicide and online bullying.

"It wouldn't be fair to Tyler's memory to let this slide," his mother, Jane, says in the current issue of People Magazine. "Something good has to come out of this terrible situation."

The Tyler Clemente Foundation will support organizations concerned with suicide prevention. It will also promote acceptance of LGBT teens and others marginalized by society, provide education against all forms of bullying including cyber bullying over the internet, and promote research and development into the causes and prevention of teenage suicide.

Clementi's father, Joe, tells the magazine that he has found some solace in paying visits to the Facebook page in his son's honor.

'I'll read a few things until I get choked up,' he said. 'Then I'll stop.'

The roommate, Dharun Ravi, goes to trial in February on 15 charges including invasion of privacy and bias intimidation. He has pleaded not guilty and this week rejected a plea deal offering him probation in return for him admitting to bias against gays people and to invading Clementi's privacy.