UK community remembers those it has lost

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By Matt Overing

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Wednesday was a day full of warmth and bright sunlight on campus, but some students, alumni, faculty and staff stopped to remember the lives of those that could not enjoy the beautiful day.

They celebrated lives that were lost in the last year at UK Remembers in the Student Center botanical garden.

President Eli Capilouto spoke at the event, one that memorialized friends and coworkers.

“I am always touched by how this community comes together to hold each other tight, hold families together, through some of the most difficult moments one can imagine at a time of loss,” Capilouto said.

The event brought together members of the community and university. Some people that were walking by stopped to listen to speakers or Paws and Listen, an a cappella group from UK’s School of Music.

Student Government President Roshan Palli also spoke at the event.

“Everyone who steps on this campus truly becomes part of something larger,” Palli said. “When we lose one of our own, it is deeply personal. We come here for some of the best years of our lives.”

Rachel Breeding, a medical center employee and Texas A&M graduate, said that events like UK Remembers were common at her alma mater.

“We did this on a monthly basis on campus,” Breeding said. “On April 21 each year, we hold Muster.”

“Muster” is, according to  Breeding, a roll-call for those that died in the year. Breeding said she went to UK Remembers to honor her coworker, Dr. Joseph Pulliam. Pulliam was a pathologist at UK HealthCare.

“He loved UK, he loved the hospital, he was full of life. He’s not here to do that anymore,” Breeding said. “Those of us that are here together wanted to do that for him. We wanted to be able to live for him.”

Capilouto said that those lost are immortalized through who they touched.

“We are reminded of the legacies of those who have passed, those who are no longer with us, but who are held deeply in our hearts, mind and spirit,” Capilouto said.

“We carry on, united by our memories of them and strengthened by the immortality of their influence. When the sun has set for our loved ones, the indelible imprint they leave on each of us, our university, is a remarkable example of an everlasting legacy.”