Eve Marie Carson

At UNC, Eve continued her role as an enthusiastic and successful leader, both inside and outside the classroom. She was co-president of the Honors Program Student Executive Board; a member of Phi Beta Kappa; a member of the North Carolina Fellows leadership development program; co-chair of Nourish International (a student movement to eradicate global poverty and hunger); a science tutor in the local public schools; an orientation counselor at Freshman Camp (run by UNC’s Campus Y); and even the captain of several intramural sports teams. During her sophomore year, she spent a semester studying at the Universidad de la Habana in Havana, Cuba.

Eve’s senior year at UNC was marked by her election to the office of student body president. In this position, she worked tirelessly to improve the college experiences of all UNC students, addressing a multitude of issues involving academics, extracurriculars, campus-town relationships, and community projects. She became a public face of the university that she loved, and her enthusiasm was contagious, including among the faculty and administration. In her role as SBP, Eve was universally loved and admired. People often show their true colors under pressure, and Eve, no matter how busy she was, remained upbeat, gracious, and perceptive to the needs of those around her. She seemed to have a limitless capacity for listening, for serving, for learning, and for remaining goal oriented while still having fun. She had a charming way of cajoling others to rise to her level of cheerful intensity. And she clearly relished the role of student-leader, especially because it allowed her to have close relationships with so many people and give voice to many of her fellow students’ concerns.

There was so much that Eve hoped to accomplish at UNC and beyond. At her death, she was only a month and a half away from completing her very successful term as student body president and two months away from graduating from the University with highest distinction in biology and political science. She had a 3.9 grade-point average and a job offer from a prestigious management-consulting firm. She had dreams of changing the world for the better and planned eventually to attend law school or graduate school in public health and/or public policy. Her focus was on “scientific policy” — governmental legislation and policy regarding gene therapy, embryonic stem-cell research, and nanotechnology. She wrote: “I feel that the next decade will be years of incredible complexity that could (and probably will) have long-lasting and important consequences for our country and society.”

As further testament to the UNC community’s admiration and affection for Eve, she was posthumously awarded the prestigious Chancellor’s Award for most outstanding woman in the senior class (The Irene F. Lee Award was first given in 1955 and is presented annually to the woman in the senior class judged most outstanding in leadership, character, and scholarship.) and the General Alumni Association’s Distinguished Young Alumnus award. At the campuswide gathering on March 6, Chancellor James Moeser encouraged the assembled mourners: “Let us be the University that Eve Carson envisioned. Let us show the ‘Carolina Way’ that she lived, that she talked about.” Many remarkable initiatives emerged in the months following her death, as Eve’s Chapel Hill and Athens communities banded together to honor her memory and continue her good works.

There have also been several striking and symbolic physical memorials to Eve, such as tree plantings and park bench projects at various spots in Athens and Chapel Hill. Two memorial gardens have been established on the UNC campus. One, in her beloved Arboretum, features a tree that will glow with flaming red foliage each fall. The other, in honor of Eve and all students who lose their lives while at the University, was dedicated in 2009 and rests near the Campus Y, where Eve spent so much of her time, and overlooks the campus’s main quad so students can meet and watch their fellow students enjoying Carolina’s beautiful weather. The memorial features a blue stone seat and Georgia marble wall inscribed with a quote from Eve that reads, “Learn from every single being, experience, and moment. What a joy it is to search for lessons and goodness and enthusiasm in others.” Artistic endeavors honoring Eve have included a painting/poster by Brenda Behr, assorted concerts, and the “Belie-v-e” music CD produced in Athens. Twenty-five DVDs of the stirring film Darius Goes West were purchased anonymously and given to university student body presidents across the country.

These are just some of the ways that people have been inspired to commemorate Eve Carson’s causes and values. Her death undoubtedly left a void that will never be adequately filled; at the same time, every member of the Carolina Family has the opportunity to carry on in her absence and help create the world that she strived for and believed in — one motivated by a desire for justice, a warm camaraderie, and the hope for better things ahead. For many of us — friends of Carolina and thus friends of Eve— this lifelong and gratifying journey will begin right here in Chapel Hill, where Eve’s spirit remains alive and well.

—Megan M. Mazzocchi