Neill McNeill's Blog

This is another one of those sad days. We received news early this afternoon of the murder of UNC Student Body President Eve Carson. And as we’ve scrambled to get crews to Chapel Hill and produce afternoon promotions of this story for both on-air and the website as well as prepare for our evening newscasts, I’ve had an opportunity to glance Eve Marie Carson’s biography. And I’ve been moved.

Here are some of the highlights:

-She was 22-years old.

-She was elected in February of 2007 with 55-percent of the vote in a runoff that produced a bigger student-voter turnout than previous year’s general election.

-She was a Morehead Scholar—meaning her high school academic performance was good enough to earn a free 4-year ride at UNC.

-She was a pre-med student majoring in both political science and biology.

-Among her interests—teaching and working with children. She taught science at the Frank Porter Graham Elementary School in Chapel Hill as part of a UNC program that encourages young students to learn science. She was a tutor at a middle school in Durham, and an assistant coach of “Girls on the Run of the Triangle.” That’s a character development program for young girls that uses running to teach values and self-confidence. (She was in her running shoes when she died in the middle of Davie Circle---just off  Franklin Street Wednesday morning.  I wonder if she was out running when someone killed her. I guess we’ll find out over the next few days.)

-During her sophomore year, she studied abroad in Havana, Cuba. She also spent her summers working and volunteering in Ecuador, Egypt, and Ghana,

-She grew up in Athens, Georgia, and was the student body president of her high school.

With Eve  having such strong leadership skills, you can’t help but wonder  what she would have been. What a doctor she would have been in the field of medicine which---in many ways---is in a leadership vacuum.

I hope that as this story develops over the next few days with the search for her killer, the news conferences, the vigils, the memorial services, and the funeral;  none of us will forget this bright star of a life that has been so suddenly and tragically extinguished.