Schools

Student Who Died Was 'Center of Our Campus'

Lafayette students pay tribute to classmate one year after his death.

Bridget Greeley and Everett Glenn were a few years apart at Lafayette College.

But that didn't stop them from becoming friends, because that's just how it was with Everett.

"For Everett, there were no strangers on campus," Greeley said Sunday, speaking to a few hundred of her classmates on the college quad at a service for Glenn on the one-year anniversary of his death. "Whenever he walked through a doorway, he'd have a crowd behind him."

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He'd be inspired, she said, to see his dream fullfilled: all his disparate groups of friends becoming a united group.

They were there to remember Glenn, and for the dedication of a new bench and tree that will serve as a memorial to a student remembered as a talented member of the college fencing team, loyal friend and a young man who could bring people together.

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Glenn—a New Jersey native who would have turned 20 on Sunday—died May 5, 2012 after being found unconscious in his room at Kirby Hall on campus. His death, from acute ethanol intoxication, was ruled accidental.

His death—along with a few dozen alcohol-related arrests the same weekend—led the school to update its alcohol policies as well as its rules governing unrecognized fraternities.

The past year has been a difficult one for the school, said Stephen Bezer, Glenn's friend and roommate who recalled life with a student so popular at the school that Bezer was famous just for being his roommate.

But he said it also shows how strong the campus can be.

"No one felt alone" after his death, Bezer said, his voice hoarse with emotion. "No one felt like they were the only ones. That's what Everett was about."

Eventually, the bench for Glenn will bear a plaque with his name and the dates marking his 19 years on earth, as well as these words:

"The man with a smile that could change the world & a presence that will forever be felt on this campus."

The bench is along the campus quad, near a well-traveled path. It's a fitting place, given who Glenn was, said friend John Moors.

"He stood in the center of our campus," he said.


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