A candlelight vigil was held in memory of Cheyanne Hass on Monday evening at the Engineering Building II breezeway. The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering organized the vigil in support of community members, especially friends of Hass, during a time of mourning. More than 50 individuals were in attendance.
Cheyanne Hass, a senior who had been studying electrical engineering, was due to graduate at the end of the week before she lost her life in a single-vehicle accident on Sunday morning.
Associate dean of academic affairs at the College of Engineering, Jerome Lavelle, spoke about the importance of events like the vigil.
To Lavelle, this is a time for members of the community to connect with each other through shared experiences, to heal together, and to begin to make sense of a very terrible tragedy.
“Tonight and the following days, it’s indeed about grieving, it’s indeed about sadness, but it’s also about reflecting on life, its meaning and its purpose, reflecting on those things that remain in the end,” Lavelle said. “In part, tonight is also about remembering the incredible life that Chayenne lived and how she touched each one of us, how she inspired us and supported us and laughed with us and challenged us.”
Lavelle shared a few words about Hass’ personality and passion for academia.
“She had that 1000 megawatts smile, and a warm and caring personality,” Lavelle said. “Chayenne’s passing not only challenges us not to give into despair, to doubt, to darkness, to become overwhelmed with helplessness. She was a passionate and committed student. All I can say is, look at her transcript. She was more than a straight A, Dean’s List student. She was a scholar who soaked in learning and she pushed herself. She loved research and innovation and discovery and learning new things and attacking problems.”
According to Lavelle, Chayenne was going to join Duke University’s biomedical engineering program next fall to work on her Ph. D.
Hass’ roommate and friends shared a few words as well. They shared personal stories of their friendships and time in NC State, as well as encouraging others to keep Hass’ family in their thoughts.
Marshall Brain, director of the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program, taught Hass the past two semesters. He saw in her an unbelievable potential and the brightest possible future. He was in tears after hearing learning of Hass’ death.
“She’s one of these people whose super optimistic, super positive, always looking on the bright side,” Brain said. “She was one of those people, I was glad to see her. She just made you feel better about being alive and whatever. She’s one of those super competent people who gets everything done and does it three times better than I would’ve done it.”
For Brain’s class, Hass and her group developed a small device that helped first-responders get vital signs automatically, and did a six-minute investor-pitch on the product last Friday. This device is aimed toward helping police officers and lifeguards, and could potentially benefit 10 million people in the country.
Representatives from the Counseling Center were at the vigil to counsel friends of the deceased through their grievances. Kelly McConkey, from counseling services, offered her support to those in mourning.
“I look at all your faces and I think about 9 years ago when I was getting ready to graduate from NC State, and I can’t even begin to imagine going through a loss like this during that time,” McConkey said. “I want you to know that the Counseling Center is here for you, each and every single one of you.”
McConkey encouraged students to reach out to the counseling center during this ordeal. According to her, talking with others can help in coping with feelings of loss and grief.
The NC State Counseling Center is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and provides group and individual counselling. In the case of emergencies after-hours, an on-call counselor can be reached at 919-515-2423.
Students, faculty, friends and others gather at Engineering Building II on Centennial Campus on Monday to remember Cheyanne Hass, a senior who was studying electrical engineering, who passed away early Sunday in a car accident. During the vigil, deans of the College of Engineering spoke, friends of Hass told stories of their times together and candles were lit to celebrate the memory the bright young NC State student.
