Eigenmann RA dies in car crash

Senior Alvin Henry, 21, was a popular Resident Assistant in Eigenmann Hall, known for his sense of humor and infectious singing of R & B hits.\n"At the start of the year I asked someone on his floor if you like your new RA, and he said, 'Yeah, we love Alvin! He's always singing in the shower,'" Eigenmann Graduate Supervisor Megan Hutchison said.\nHenry's voice was silenced forever Saturday night shortly after 8 p.m. when the car in which he was a passenger lost control and hit a semi on northbound I-65, just outside Crown Point, Ind., according to an Indiana State Police news release.\nHenry was ejected from the vehicle, which was traveling at a high rate of speed, and pronounced dead at the scene, according to the release. Police said alcohol was not a factor in the crash.\n"It was a big shock to everyone," said Henry's cousin, senior Darleesa Gates, choking back tears. "I was a few months older than him, but he was always trying to be the bigger cousin, taking care of me and giving me rides places. He was a sweet person. I won't forget his beautiful smile."\nAnother cousin, Jonathon Griffin, remembers Henry as an outgoing guy who tried to be friends with everyone.\n"He welcomed everybody," Griffin said. "He made you feel comfortable. He treated everyone with respect."\nHenry was also a good student, majoring in political science and economics, planning to graduate next May. He had just taken the GRE in hopes of going to law school and entering politics.\n"Me and Alvin had been together since elementary school, we graduated high school together, and we were supposed to graduate college together," Gates said. \nSenior Franc Perrelle, a fellow RA, often played basketball at the SRSC with Henry, who was an avid Chicago Bulls fan.\n"We always had a competition playing against each other, trying to one up each other," Perrelle said. "He tried to make me better. He did that not just on the court, but as an RA he made those around him better people."\nA native of Gary, Henry was a member of the executive board of the Black Student Union and staff writer and guest columnist for the Indiana Daily Student.\nBut Henry is still best known as the singing RA in Eigenmann who did whatever he could to help his students.\n"When you were at school he made you feel at home," said sophomore Matt Baron, who lived on Henry's floor last year. "He cared about everyone."\nWith dorms emptied for the summer, Henry's death creates an even greater void in Eigenmann.\n"He liked to crack jokes, but he also always had the right calming words for you," Hutchison said. "He's going to be missed."\n-Campus editor Trevor Brown contributed to this report.