W W W.CENTR A LR ECOR DER .COM Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Central Connecticut State University
Volume 107 No. 14
A Campus Mourns Death of Two Students Leaves CCSU Stunned miChaEl walSh The recorder
Central Connecticut State University football player Rich Royster and CCSU student Brittany Mariani were identified as the victims of a car crash that occurred on Saturday morning on the Charter Oak Bridge in Hartford. According to police, Royster, 20, and Mariani, 24, died after the car Mariani was driving crashed into the back of a parked tractor-trailer northbound near exit 90 at approximately 4:45 a.m. The truck driver was not injured. Royster, of Ossining, N.Y., was a junior psychology major and a defensive lineman for the Blue Devils appearing in 10 games kENNy barTo | ThE rECorDEr
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Top Left: Rich Royster and his girlfriend, Brittany Mariani, seen together from a Facebook photo. Center: Rich Royster using a swim move against a Bryant offensive lineman. Bottom Left: Football captain Jeff Marino struggles to keep his composure during a press conference. Marino and Royster shared many experiences as members of the Blue Devil defense.
Blue Devil Fallen, But Not Forgotten
Psychology Department Reflects on Two Student Deaths Sara bErry The recorder
briTTaNy bUrkE The recorder
When the word “family” comes to mind, a person’s first thought would normally be a mother, father, brother, sister or grandparents; a person or persons tied to you because of a blood relation. However, sometimes the strongest bond comes from the members of a family which aren’t predestined, but chosen. The CCSU football team’s bonds of brotherhood were strengthened as one of its own was killed, along with a fellow CCSU student early Saturday morning in a car accident. It didn’t matter that Rich Royster had no blood brothers in the locker room, his death affected not only the football team, but the entire athletics department. “This is a very tight knit group, it is a very tight campus, a very tight family,” said Athletic Director Paul Schlickmann in a Sunday afternoon press conference. “That culture stems from Dr. Miller, our president. He said it well yesterday when he said, when things like this happen, it affects us
as a family. So we react as a family, we grieve as a family, we come together as a family, so we will continue to do just that and work together. Yesterday we lost two members of that family, and there is no doubt that that hurts.” Royster, 20, a New York native, was a junior in the psychology department, while Brittany Mariani, 24, was a senior psychology major. Both students were killed early Saturday morning on the Charter Oak Bridge. Royster spent two years as a Blue Devil, helping his teammates to two consecutive NEC Championship wins. Royster, a defensive lineman, transferred from Iona when the school cut its football program. Despite his short time at CCSU, Royster’s death meant the Blue Devils lost one of their own. As a way of coping with his untimely death, the team has come together to lean on one another and support each other through this difficult start of the semester. “Everybody on the football team is from very different backgrounds and very different situations, but we all had that bond that happened on the football field,” said senior blUE DEvil | CoNT. oN 10
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As the Central Connecticut State University campus mourns the loss of psychology students Rich Royster and Brittany Mariani, the department in which they both spent their academic time studying took time to remember them on Monday. Marianne Fallon and Marisa Mealy, both of the psychology department, worked closely with Royster and knew him well. Fallon was set to supervise Royster’s independent study on the effects of comedy on racial stereotypes. Both referred to him as a big, intimidating guy who was really a teddy bear, and more talented than he let on. Mealy shared an anecdote from a class she taught Royster in. Last semester, after Thanksgiving break, she came to class and shared that her weekend included a fight with her boyfriend. Royster offered to “get together a posse and get [her] stuff back,” in exchange for extra credit points for anyone who participated. While the football-playing Royster was well-known on campus, Mariani was much more quiet. Though Fallon never met her in person, she was in one of her online classes and
gained a lot of insight to Mariani’s personality through her written work. Fallon described her writing as very honest and insightful. Jason Sikorski, also a psychology professor, described her as a happy, energetic and devoted student with a good sense of humor who was always smiling. Sikorski remembers Mariani as being interested in social work. Psychology Department Chair Laura Bowman had both Royster and Mariani in her cognitive psychology class last semester. Bowman also described Mariani as being cheerful, interested and engaged in what she was learning. She always contributed in class discussions and, according to Fallon, enjoyed communicating with other people. Mealy and Fallon also shared how they learned about the tragedy. Fallon was notified through the campus announcement sent out Saturday afternoon by Mark McLaughlin, Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications at CCSU. She then called Mealy, who was in their shared office preparing for classes. “The conversation was like ‘No way,’ ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ ‘yes.’’ said Mealy. “When we got off the phone, I just started bawling.” That sentiment was shared by the entire psychology department.
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