“Learn from every single being, experience and moment. What joy it is to search for lessons, goodness and enthusiasm in others.”
– Eve Marie Carson
 

In the wake of one of the most horrific and unspeakable events in US history this past Friday in Newton, CT , we as American and as humans really are still looking for answers and are in a state of shock at this catastrophic event that has rocked our society to its core. The Connecticut shootings will forever be one of those “I remember where I was events” and anytime something horrible like this happens to children/young people with so much promise and their entire life ahead of them, it really makes you pause in your tracks. It also at the same time makes you feel blessed for the life that you have and the loved ones that are still with you today. This truly institutes the saying that “You must cherish every day like it’s your last” or in the case of Eve Carson “Live every day to its fullest.” So in saying that, please take a moment today and think about your loved ones, especially you parents/grandparents, and the children that you have in your life at this time and if you can hug them, make a call or write an email to them, you’ll be glad you did.

Their were two reasons I wanted to write about the Eve Carson Scholarship Fund for the non-profit spotlight. First, with the awful events that occurred in my home state of Connecticut this past Friday, we as members of this community to some degree cannot stop and think of the similarities, to some extent, of the loss of Eve Carson at the young age of 22. The brutal murder of this young, radiant, beautiful university student body president, whom like these young children in Connecticut, had her whole life in front of her with the world at her fingertips and a university community that adored her. She affected and influenced thousands and her spirit and memory has never left this community and will forever be a part of the university’s and community’s fabric. Eve Carson was the symbol for everything that is right in today’s society, a person who was loved by so many, helped everyone she met and touched, was a strong believer in academics and creating a close knit community with no exclusions and doing so with love. I know I can speak for all of this community in saying that we miss you Eve and wish that you were here with us today, making this community and world a better place!

This past Monday night, Amy and Alex Amra and the great people at the new Tobacco Road Café in Chapel Hill, hosted a fundraiser in support of the Eve Carson Scholarship Fund that drew a terrific turnout for an organization that has grown leaps and bounds from the inaugural year in 2008. The Eve Carson Scholarship program is a student-led organization that celebrates the contributions of Carolina students to the community and supports them in living out their unique “Carolina Way.” The Scholarship is a living memorial to Eve and her vision for Carolina and the potential of its students and is carried on by the Executive Committee of (Kacie Neville – Executive Director, Dan Morgenstern – Operating Director, Nikita Shamdasani – Director of Campus Development, Kara Singsank – Director of External Development, Julie Crimmins – Director of Publi Relations, Elizabeth Davis – Director of Scholar Programs, and Mary Weylandt – Secretary/Treasurer). The fund accomplishes this by awarding merit scholarships to junior-year students who demonstrate passion, service, leadership, transformative growth and the ability to overcome challenges all of the same great qualities that Eve held. At this time the Scholarship fund is now up to nine Eve Carson Scholars, a truly amazing feat, and the newest recipients of the scholarships are Emma Dewitt and Paige Holmes for the 2013-2014 year. However, just like any scholarship fund, the executive committee urges you to help them keep Eve’s mission alive and allow them to provide two more scholarships for the 2014-2015 school year and keep the spirit of Eve going through your generous donations (info here). 


(Lt-Rt Executive Director of the Eve Carson Scholarship Fund Kacie Neville and Chapelboro’s Brian Chacos at Tobacco Road Café Monday night , where they were hosting their first annual fundraising event at this location. For more information on donating to the Eve Carson Scholarship Fund please go here.)

In closing, by all the articles that I have read and the stories that you still hear around Chapel Hill today, I feel sad that my path did not cross with Eve Carson’s. Like I stated earlier in this column, she is everything that is right in society today and would have been a great role model for our children and young people to follow today. Through the website link that I have posted below, you can read more in depth about Eve and her life as well as other detailed articles from her friends and UNC administrators and start to truly grasp about how spectacular this young woman was and how lucky we were to have her with us for those short 22 years. Thank you Eve……you are truly missed! 

 

(If you have not read about Eve Carson, I urge you to…you will truly be inspired!)