Copyright Charleston Post and Courier
CHARLESTON — More than a hundred people gathered Nov. 7 to honor the life of College of Charleston freshman Owen Kenney, who police said took his own life on Halloween. The week since Kenney’s disappearance has been difficult for many of the students, as was evident by the large group that assembled throughout the Cistern Yard around noon. A number of students and faculty took a break between classes to pay their respects, whether they knew Kenney or not. The atmosphere was somber. Occasionally, a sniffle or sob would rise above the silence. At the base of a circular brick walkway sat a makeshift memorial honoring Kenney. Participants had written the student’s name on poster board in marker as well as the sentiment “In our hearts.” Kenney had been a freshman at C of C. He’d transferred in last January, a college spokesperson told The Post and Courier on Nov. 3. “Grief is a mysterious beast,” said Alicia Caudill, the college’s executive vice president for student affairs. Both she and school President Andrew Hsu thanked those who had gathered for their attendance and their strength during the week following the 19-year-old New Jersey native’s last known sighting. That was in the early morning hours of Oct. 31 when he was seen walking alone on the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. The report of his death came days later on Nov. 6. Recovery efforts are still underway to locate his body. Hsu said he has seen the extraordinary way students have taken care of one another, acting as an extended family. “As a father and a grandfather, I know how important it is to come together,” he said. Participants filled out leaflets with heartfelt words, overflowing two woven baskets less than an hour into the service. They will be sent to Kenney’s parents. Madison Kolb sat crisscrossed on the lawn to write a message. She’d been in a club with Kenney and, while she hadn’t known him personally, his presence had made a big difference in the atmosphere of gatherings, Kolb told The Post and Courier. Her friend, Madilyn Nechay, sat next to Kolb, similarly jotting words to Kenney’s parents. “I want his family to know that the community is here and mourning with them,” Nechay said. His disappearance and death had been heartbreaking, said Samantha Fahs. She’d brought an arrangement of yellow blooms to leave in remembrance. She and friend Annie Olsen approached the memorial together. Olsen had met Kenney in early childhood as she’d grown up in a town adjacent to his Tinton Falls, N.J., hometown. Olsen and Fahs are both seniors, set to graduate in the coming months. But Olsen remembers how difficult it had been to start the higher education journey. “We were all freshman once,” she said. “It was important to come here today and show support.”
