Eve Carson and The Carolina Way

I wrote something yesterday that I felt could capture how I felt after finding out a fellow Tar Heel, someone I knew had been killed. I don’t think it quite does the job, because explaining the emotions for all Tar Heels this morning would be difficult, no matter how well you know Eve Carson.

I opened my inbox today to find a post from the dearest of friends who I feel captures so much about yesterday’s events. The first post is mine, the second is hers.
—-

I don’t even know where to begin.

I found out this morning that our Student Body President had been killed, and it caught me completely off guard, as it did the rest of the Carolina community. I had spoken with Eve Carson on several occasions, but did not know her as well as so many do. I was involved with Student Government for a while, and I know anyone involved with the Executive Branch, past and present, all feel a loss.

It is hard to find someone she did not have an impact on at UNC. It is beyond devastating to know that someone so bright, so determined, so intelligent with so much ahead will not be able to continue doing great things here, and that someone in this community could kill her and leave her to die. Maybe it is true that the good die young.

Eve did not live long, but she certainly lived well.

Rest in peace, Eve.

—-
I’m sitting here poring over any article I can find that mentions Eve Carson. I keep thinking that if I read every single one, someone will have an answer. Someone will be able to tell me why this happened.

My eyes are tired, and my heart hurts.

Even though my time at UNC has come to an end, Eve Carson was still my Student Body President, because though my tassel is turned, UNC will always be home. Home is the place you go when you need to remember who you are. Home is the place you go knowing that the people who know you best will pick you up when you fall. UNC is that place for me and countless Tar Heels throughout the world, and Eve Carson was our fearless and passionately devoted leader. Her dedication was undeniable. Her enthusiasm was infectious. Her impact will be lasting.

But my sadness doesn’t stem from the fact that she was our Student Body President. My sadness comes from some place much deeper. She was a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter, and a best friend. She was a Tar Heel. She was a student who sat in the famed lecture halls of our University, soaking up every piece of knowledge available. She sat in the Pit along with the rest of our University family and enjoyed the lazy spring days that can be defined as nothing short of perfection. My heart breaks at the thought that Eve will not be able to sit there this spring; that there will be an empty seat in her classes today. She is gone – far too soon – and nothing, not even answers to the questions we ask, will mend the heartache that hangs over Chapel Hill today.

Hundreds of miles away, I look at the photographs of the thousands upon thousands of students gathered in Polk Place, and I feel some sort of comfort. I close my eyes, and I can hear the slow, melodic chimes of the Bell Tower, sending Hark the Sound throughout our somber campus. What is it that binds us to this place as to no other? It’s more than those stone walls and those crisp October nights. It’s because, in times of joy and in sorrow, we realize that no matter where we go, we are always bound to one another.

[second post written by Taylor Stanford.]