‘Every Little Thing Was
Something That Could Be Fixed’
arolina Athletic Associa-
Ction President Andrew
Coonin ’09 recalled when
he and Eve Carson ’08
received special edition
Nike Dunks shoes with Tar Heel logos
on the back. Carson had requested a size
9 — not realizing that only men’s sizes
were available.
“She would clunk around in those
giant shoes,” Coonin said. He was horrified when he saw her wearing them in the
rain a couple of days later, even if it was
senior night for the men’s basketball team.
After all, only 200 pairs had been made.
“That was very much Eve. She wasn’t
just going to have them. She was going to
wear the shoes no matter what.”
At her freshman camp she acted like a
counselor. The following year, of course,
she was one. Carson, who was abducted
from her home near Franklin Street and
shot to death March 5, 2008, came to
Chapel Hill to be involved, from the day
her feet hit the ground. Along the way she
found that she could inspire as well, and
she put a lot of her seemingly limitless
energy into firing up those around her.
One of the first groups for which she
worked was Nourish International, a
hunger relief organization started by
UNC students in 2002 that has evolved
into an antipoverty nonprofit with a
nationwide reach. She co-chaired Nourish in 2005.
As student body president, the Morehead-Cain Scholar served as an ex officio
member of the Board of Trustees and on
the GAA Board of Directors. She poured
herself into one of the campus’s premier
fundraisers, the Dance Marathon; and she
was on the committee that searched for a
new chancellor.
While majoring in political science
and biology, she was a member of Phi
Beta Kappa. A North Carolina Fellow, she
was part of a four-year leadership development program for undergraduates. In
the spring of her sophomore year, she
studied in Havana, Cuba. She spent her
ILLUSTRATION BY ALISON DUNCAN ’ 96
summers working and volunteering in
Ecuador, Egypt and Ghana as part of the
Morehead Summer Enrichment program.
She served as co-president of the
Honors Program Student Executive
Board and as a member of the Committee on Scholarships, Awards and Student
Aid; the Academic Advising Program; and
the Chancellor’s Committee for University Teaching Awards.
Her term as student body president
was almost up when she died. After The
Daily Tar Heel criticized her for a lack of
town-gown in her platform, Carson
scheduled a monthly meeting with
Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy, eventually
urging the town council to provide more
off-campus emergency call boxes.
Emily Motley ’09 usually isn’t interested in student body presidents’ platforms, but something in Carson’s caught
her eye. She hoped to plan an end-of-the-year music festival.
“She said, ‘Maybe it’s not possible, but
let’s just see what we can do with it,’”
Motley recalled. “We just had kind of a
crazy year dreaming big, realizing what
we could attain and kind of shaping
Springfest for its inaugural year.”
The committee on which Motley
worked was able to secure a concert with
rhythm-and-blues stars Boyz II Men and
Nine Days as the opening act in the
Smith Center last May.
When Boyz II Men took the stage,
“People were literally crying,” said Motley, who was working on the second
Springfest in March.
Now Andrew Coonin treasures Carson’s e-mails, especially the one sent in
support after he told her he was charged
with DUI.
“I don’t think I would see the role of
the CAA president as I do without Eve. I
don’t think I would see the role of student leaders on campus as I do without
knowing Eve and working on her campaign. Every little thing was something
that could be fixed and should be fixed.”
— Robin Hilmantel ’09
from Charlotte, says he learned a great deal
from Carson’s life, even though he met her
only one time, for 15 minutes.
“You have to embrace what you’re
lucky enough to have,” Shirley said. “That’s
what she did. She did it for 22 years, and
this University was certainly better because
of it, and it was an inspiration. If she could
touch that many people and brighten that
many lives, then I should be able to, too, no
matter what I have going on in my life.”
Student body President J.J. Raynor ’09,
who was just about to take office when
Carson was killed, said the murder changed
the course of her administration. “It made
us regroup and become less focused on
checking off platform boxes, and more
people-focused.” In her personal life, she
says, she has become more attentive to the
people she knows and meets, whether it
means taking time out for a good conversation or remembering to check in with a
friend after a big interview.
“One of the things she did particularly
well was empower other students to
achieve their best. I think that she left a
whole generation of students who are
striving to live out lives that show that
touch and that presence.”
Emily Joy Rothchild ’09, a music major
and a member of Carson’s cabinet, said,
“The biggest gift she gave to me was how
she embodied the Carolina spirit. I’m from
Iowa, and I was skeptical of that idea.”
That spirit, Rothchild said, was a sense
of community, inclusion and belonging.
“I know I sing Hark the Sound a lot
more,” Rothchild said, describing one of
the ways that Carson’s death changed her.
On Mix-It-Up Day, when students
make a point to sit with peers from different backgrounds and talk about diversity,
Rothchild had 30 people standing in Rams
Head dining hall, joining her spontaneously
in the school song — very Eve-esque.
“I think about Eve every single day, and
I think I will for a while,” said Rothchild,
who graduates in May. “I’m sad that I have
to leave this place.”
DARV JOHNSON ’ 93 is a freelance writer
based in Chapel Hill, and ROBIN HILMAN-
TEL
’09 is a former editorial intern with the
Review. Portions of this article originally
appeared in an article by Hilmantel in the
UNC student magazine Blue and White.
