Colin Boyarski '08
Colin James Boyarski '08 died on April 3, 2005. He was nineteen and a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Colin, a first-year student who was interested in philosophy and writing, died in Gambier. (See the article on page 10.)
Professors and classmates remembered Colin as a quiet and kind young man with a keen mind and a luminous smile. "Colin was thoughtful, in all senses of the word," said Kristen Van Ausdall, an assistant professor of art history. "He was 'full of thought' and also kind, a very kind person.
"He was not just an 'A' student," she added, "but a student who really knew how to think. He wrote extremely well. He had an incisive mind, and a mind that also understood beauty. He had real intellectual curiosity. And he was happy at Kenyon. I was so much looking forward to getting to know him better."
Assistant Professor of Philosophy Yang Xiao, who had Colin in two courses, noted that Colin "cared about social justice and about other people, especially those who are worse off." In an ethics course, Colin wrote a research paper about inequality in public schools based in part on his experience last summer at Homewood Montessori School in Pittsburgh, where he tutored grade-school children. "He wrote beautifully," said Xiao. "I could imagine him becoming a lawyer and helping people, doing something about the causes he cared about."
He also cared deeply about family. In a philosophy midterm exam in which he discussed different kinds love, Colin wrote "a really convincing argument about how family love was the basis for all other kinds of love," said Xiao. "It was in the family where one learned how to love, so that one could eventually expand it to other people."
"Colin lived life to the fullest," said Jessica Gersh '08, a friend. "He was very social and enjoyed sharing things with his friends. He loved his family very much and was proud of his older sister, Luisa. We all [his Kenyon friends] felt like we personally knew his friends from home and his family."
At Kenyon, Colin was a pledge of the Delta Phi fraternity.
Speaking on behalf of the organization, Phi chapter president Alexander Wright '05 said, "The brothers of the Phi chapter of Delta Phi were proud to call Colin Boyarski our friend and brother. His selflessness, amiability, and constant good cheer made him a joy to be around. In his time at Kenyon, Colin touched many lives and made many friends, all of whom will miss him dearly. He was truly happy in the close community of our fraternity and in the college he has called home for the past year."
Colin was a graduate of Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh. He had been a member of the National Honor Society and had been involved in the Model U.N., the environmental club, the ski club, and a student group devoted to issues of hunger.
In addition to his sister, Luisa, Colin is survived by his parents, Daniel J. and Elizabeth M. Boyarski. Memorial contributions may be made to a teen counseling service of one's choice.
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