Ceremony Remembers, Celebrates Eve Carson

Posted on Feb. 23, 2009

Carolina remembered former Student Body President Eve Carson ’08 on Thursday, the date on which she was murdered in 2008.

Several thousand students, faculty members and Carolina staff gathered for a ceremony in the Pit in late afternoon. They listened to voices of several of Carson’s friends recall how Carson and her death changed their lives. Chancellor Holden Thorp ’86 spoke to the group, recalling Carson’s spirit, energy, her humor and her sense of service.

After the Clef Hangers sang their a cappella version of James Taylor’s Carolina In My Mind, the Bell Tower tolled Hark the Sound. Carson reportedly never missed a Clefs’ performance. Thorp joined the Clefs Thursday in singing Taylor’s signature song.

UNC posted a video from the event.

“For many of us, the loss of Eve Carson continues to occupy our thoughts,” Thorp said before the event. “This ceremony gives us a chance to remember and celebrate Eve together after a difficult year.”

The University has been working to preserve Carson’s legacy in other ways, too.

As student body president, Carson worked to create a scholarship for students who have made outstanding contributions to the campus and community during their first three years. Carolina students, friends and family have helped to turn her dream into a reality by establishing the scholarship in her honor.

The first Eve Marie Carson Scholar was announced on Feb. 6. Junior Elinor Benami will receive funding for a summer experience this year and financial aid to cover tuition costs for her senior year.

In recognition of the spirit Carson brought to the University, the campus community has made plans for an Eve Marie Carson Garden on the southwest side of the Campus Y. The Board of Trustees’ buildings and grounds committee has approved a preliminary design for the garden.

Landscape architect Peter Schaudt of Hoeer/Schaudt is developing a concept plan for the garden. Student leaders and representatives from facilities planning, student affairs and Carolina Dining Services are collaborating on the planning.

Last March, then-Chancellor James Moeser said during a campus celebration of Carson’s life that Carson embodied the Carolina spirit not only because she reached for excellence for herself, but because she reached out to help classmates become excellent, too.

“The scholarship embodies Eve’s optimistic vision of the future,” Thorp said, “and the Eve Marie Carson Garden will be a permanent reminder of her bright hopes and vibrant spirit.”

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Related material is available online:

• UNC video from March 5 event at the Pit.
• ‘Eve’s Mantle has Been Passed to Us’
  An In Memoriam department feature from the Carolina Alumni Review that appeared in the May/June 2008 issue. It is available online to Carolina Alumni members.
• First Eve Marie Carson Scholarship Awarded
  News report from February 2009
• Death Penalty Sought Against Carson Suspect
  News reports from August 2008
• Two Charged In Eve Carson’s Death;  Second Charged Also in Duke Killing
  News report from April 1, 2008
• Videos of “A Celebration of the Life of Eve Carson 1985-2008”
• “Born Bathed in Carolina Blue,” essay published March 19 by Wall Street Journal reporter Wendy Bounds ’93, a 2007 recipient of the GAA’s Distinguished Young Alumna Award
• Never a Stranger – Three Classmates Remember Eve Carson
• Letter from Chancellor Moeser

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