For a few moments Thursday afternoon there was only silence at the normally bustling center of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Hundreds of students bowed their heads, and more than a few wiped tears from their eyes as they gathered in the Pit to remember Eve Carson, the UNC student body president who was murdered one year ago.
"Today is a day to celebrate the special person that Eve was," UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp said at the start of the remembrance ceremony. "Her enthusiasm, originality and persistence made her an unforgettable person."
Thorp, who first met Carson when he interviewed her for the prestigious Morehead-Cain Scholarship, shared several memories of her with the crowd.
The night before Carson was murdered, she sat behind Thorp at a men's basketball game as the Tar Heels beat Florida State on UNC's senior night.
"On the way out I gave her a high five, and she grabbed my hand and shook it, because for Eve... a simple high five just wasn't enough," he said. "It needed more love. There was always more love with Eve, especially love for Carolina."
Thorp and Winston Crisp, UNC assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, called on students to honor Carson's legacy by performing community service and embodying the ideals of the Carolina way-striving towards excellence while maintaining compassion for others.
Students described the many ways that Carson inspired them to help others in an audio recording played at the event. Among the projects were a tree-planting and a scholarship in Carson's honor.
Following the event, UNC sophomore Katherine Novinski described in an interview with The Chronicle how Carson inspired her personally, and how Carson affected the UNC community.
"She was the person I looked up to more than anybody," said Novinski, a member of UNC student government's Service North Carolina committee and one of the event's planners. "She just had this unbelievable ability to connect with people on a different level. When she was talking to you, you felt like she was your best friend, even if you had only met her once."
Hogan Medlin, also a member of the Service NC committee, said Carson's influence on UNC went far beyond her role as student body president.
"Eve was all about random acts of kindness, like telling someone how great they are, or understanding someone's strengths and lifting them up to their full potential," he said in an interview.
Medlin, who is a member of the UNC a capella group The Clef Hangers, took the stage during the ceremony with the rest of the group to sing James Taylor's "Carolina in My Mind," which was one of Carson's favorite songs.
"I know my legs were sort of trembling because I was worried that I was going to mess up because I wanted to do so well for Eve," he said.
As the final strains of the song died down and the Clef Hangers filed off the stage, Thorp asked for a moment of silence, which was followed by a rendition of the UNC alma mater by the bells of the UNC Bell Tower.
"I was inspired by the turnout and the spirit that you have here," Thorp said in an interview after the event. "I think that everybody is committing themselves to continuing her passion for service, and that's why everybody is here."
Carson was shot and killed in the early morning hours of March 5, 2008 after being abducted and robbed. Demario Atwater and Laurence Lovette are both charged with her murder. Lovette also allegedly murdered Duke graduate student Abhijit Mahato in January 2008.
In Carson's memory, the Service NC committee is asking students to volunteer throughout the month of March, Medlin said. The committee usually encourages student volunteering during a single week of the month.
"[We wanted] to give students a way to channel their emotions to do something productive that Eve would be proud of and Eve would want us to do," Medlin said. "She would want us to do service, she would want us to help others."
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