A candlelight vigil will be held Monday to remember the lives of four Cal Poly students.
Mustang News Staff Report
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Cal Poly will honor deceased students Greg Inamori, Kyle Rhodes, Weston Crowe and Luke Powers in a candlelight vigil Monday at 6 p.m. at Julian A. McPhee University Union, University Spokesperson Matt Lazier said.
Associated Students, Inc. President Jason Colombini said he would begin the service with a short speech before faculty from different academic colleges and a representative from Front Porch Ministry speak.
“When any Mustang or any student at Cal Poly dies, it has an impact,” Colombini said. “Everyone responds in different ways to different life events, and overall the Cal Poly community has to watch out for one another.”
Inamori, a 24-year-old Cal Poly graduate living in Mountain View, passed away on Aug. 29.
Rhodes, a rising physics sophomore, died on August 10 and lived in Danville.
Crowe, from Ramona, had enrolled at Cal Poly and participated in Week of Welcome last year before taking a medical leave of absence to deal with his sarcoma, a form of cancer.
Powers died on Sept. 25 shortly after beginning his third year in agriculture systems management.
Biomedical engineering senior Stefan Wagner died June 19, but his parents chose not to include him in the public memorial, Colombini said.
“It’s difficult to have a memorial for one person, let alone four,” Colombini said. “We contacted all the families to make sure it was OK, what they were looking for and what they would like.”
Cal Poly has lost eight students since July 2012, with the others being Brett Olson, Giselle Ayala, Brandon Huang and Jacob Van Staaveren.
Students who wish to honor the deceased can join in the candlelight vigil Monday night, which Colombini helped organize on Facebook.
Rhodes’ memory was honored at the first Another Type of Groove of the year. He frequented the monthly MultiCultural Center poetry event as a freshman.
Powers’ Pi Kappa Alpha brothers celebrated his life with a charity barbeque Sunday. All donated money went to a mental health and suicide prevention foundation the Powers’ family selected.
The fraternity will also have a memorial service in UU 220 specifically for Powers after the main event.
Benjy Egel contributed to this staff report.