Tonight marked the memorial for Eric Harms — officially, it began at 8:07 pm (his birthday was August 7th.) As students had begun to congregate, a slideshow created by his classmates played on a screen, and jazz, his favorite type of music, played in the background. 

Two of Harms’s fellow class council members approached the microphone, explaining that this was an “impromptu sort of thing,” and anyone who wanted to could get up and share their thoughts. Two more ESC members spoke next, reading a passage by Cicero (one of his favorite authors) both in Latin and in translation. They also announced that a new version of the ESC class shirt would be printed, featuring quotes from Cicero in Harms’s memory.

After the Cicero tribute, a series of Eric’s friends, classmates, suitemates, and CUE partners proceeded to the microphone. Many repeated how “comforting” he was, how “he would always go out of his way to make someone feel better.” Others talked about his red hair, and how he was impossible to lose in the crowd.

The Harms family was the next to take the microphone, his two older sisters first, then his parents. Harms’ mother was the first to actually address his suicide, noting that “suicide is not the answer. Don’t even let that word get into your head because it becomes like a disease. If you ever think about it make sure to call someone, call someone close by.” She did not think that “Eric ever really intended to be gone that night.”

His father took off his coat to give his eulogy, a gesture he called “very Eric.” He admitted he would miss “all the little things about Eric: the hair, the smile, the jokes, the way he slept.” He ended by remembering that when Eric fell asleep late at night, “I would kiss him on the forehead and whisper ‘sleep well, Eric.’ And now you are.”

Photos and reporting by ESN, additional writing by JCD