Tuesday, February 3, 2015 | The Appalachian | Vol. 89 No. 31
Michael Bragg
Dean of Students J.J. Brown is responsible for communicating with the families of students who pass away. When he’s about to reach out to them, he takes time to close his eyes, relax and think about how the family will react to the news they’re about to receive.
Remembering Mountaineers Over the course of the academic year, nine students have died at ASU
by Michael Bragg Enterprise Editor
R
ight outside of the Student Development office, Cindy Wallace walks by a sizable list of student names every day. As she scans the names mounted on a plaque on the first floor inside the B.B. Dougherty Administration Building, the vice chancellor skips randomly from name to name, pointing to a student she met once or knew very well. Wallace will say something she remembered about them, doing so with a nostalgic smile on her face as she remembers each student differently. And then, with a slight change of tone and mood, she recalls how these students passed away,
the reason why their names have been given a spot on the wall. The more than 150 names on the Appalachian Student Memorial Plaque immortalize the students who have died, on- or off-campus, during their time at Appalachian State University since the plaque was created in September 2001. “When you know the student individually it’s even harder,” said Wallace, who has been in Student Development for 11 years and worked in academic affairs prior to that. “There are any number of cases where I have known the students personally. I have taught them, I have advised them in a club or an organization, and that probably is a whole ‘nother depth of kind of sadness.”
Student diagnosed with leukemia by Thomas Culkin News Reporter
The lives of an Appalachian State University student and his family changed unexpectedly last month when he was diagnosed with leukemia. William John Chapman, a sophomore English major, was diagnosed Jan. 16 with an extremely rare form of leukemia known as Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL), which, according to the United States National Library of Medicine, makes up
The most recent names added to the memorial, which now spans across three boards, are four of the students who died during the fall 2014 semester, including freshman Anna Smith. Altogether, nine students have died this academic year with the most recent death of senior Michael Cameron Schmitt on Jan. 30. This number may seem higher than what has been reported in the media in the past few months, but that could be due to the fact that the university will not release the names of currently enrolled students who died if the family decides to withhold that information. “I think that as a university community we all want to know
Intern News Reporter
Courtesy of Melissa Burgess
roughly 10 percent of all acute myeloid leukemia cases. “I was in so much shock that I couldn’t speak,” Chapman’s mother Melissa Burgess said.
Burgess has created a GoFundMe page, which can be found at www.gofundme.com/ ktkro0 to help cover the expenses of gas, food,
SEE FUND PAGE 3
SEE REMEMBER PAGE 6 & 7
iPALS geared toward cultural awareness by Madison Barlow
William John Chapman lays in his hospital bed.
what took place and transpired when we lose a student, but I also respect the family’s decision to keep that private, should they choose to do so,” said Dean of Students J.J. Brown, who has the responsibility to communicate with the families of students who have died. In recent years, eight students died between the fall 2012 and summer 2013 semesters, while seven died between the fall 2013 and summer 2014 semesters, according to numbers provided by the Office of the Dean of Students. “[W]e don’t anticipate, no one does, that going to college involves that sense of loss,” Wallace said.
When junior biology major Jane Hamrick first began getting involved with iPALS, she didn’t realize that she would be making a lifelong friend. iPALS is a club on campus affiliated with the International Education and Development department that matches international exchange students with current, domestic students to encourage
friendships and cultural exchange, according to www.international. appstate.edu. Hamrick said she found out about iPALS after attending a Baptist Campus Ministry meeting last semester. “Some iPALS members were at the meeting, and were asking for volunteers to pair with international students to help them with English and a better understanding of America,” Hamrick said. “I knew it sounded like a
good opportunity to get involved internationally, but I never thought I would find a friend like Mimi.” Hamrick was matched with Japanese exchange student Mimi Takahashi. “The first thing Mimi and I did was get lunch,” Hamrick said. “Even [though] there is a cultural difference, we clicked from the beginning. I didn’t get the opportunity to study
SEE IPALS PAGE 3