Ryan ChartrandFreshman Christopher Thomas Harvey, 18, was killed in a car accident while home for the holidays.
On Dec. 7, Harvey had just taken two finals to complete his first quarter at Cal Poly when he decided to make the four-hour drive north to his home in Walnut Creek. Once home, Harvey volunteered to be a designated driver for a friend at a party that night. He never made it home after the party.
At 2:45 a.m. on Dec. 8, Harvey and a passenger were on their way, just a few blocks away from Harvey’s childhood home, when the road curved. He continued to drive straight and struck a raised dirt embankment before the car then rolled multiple times and landed on its roof, preliminary police reports stated.
Firefighters were able to remove Harvey and the 19-year-old passenger from the car, but Harvey was pronounced dead at the scene due to a blunt force injury, the California Highway Patrol said.
Harvey grew up in Walnut Creek, Calif., east of San Francisco. Since his childhood, he had been involved in a variety of sports but was especially dedicated to basketball and baseball. His father, Christopher Harvey, often coached his son in his athletic endeavors and described him as “scary smart.”
Harvey’s first-choice school was Cal Poly, where he majored in bioresource and agricultural engineering, his father said.
“He got accepted to a lot of different schools, but when he heard from Cal Poly, that was it,” his father said.
During Harvey’s short time at Cal Poly, he began pledging with a fraternity, made many friends and enjoyed school.
“He was a very likeable boy,” his father said. “He seemed to get along with a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds.” Harvey was described as the person who would take the new kid under his wing and help him feel comfortable.
“I really can’t put into words how amazing my little brother was,” said his older sister Sarah Harvey, who is also a student at Cal Poly.
In celebration of Harvey’s memory, his friends at the Sierra Madre Residence Hall, where he lived during his time at Cal Poly, had a game night on Jan. 17. The group gathered to play Harvey’s favorite games, listen to his favorite music and eat some of his favorite foods.
Harvey’s father said he would like his son to be remembered “as a very good friend and an outstanding person.”
This is the sixth car accident that has resulted in the death of a Cal Poly student within the past year.