A line of lanterns led friends and family through Dunn Meadow to a remembrance gathering for sophomore Adrian Jimenez.
At the end of the path was a table displaying photos and videos of Jimenez and a poster board on which friends and family could write memories. Friends and family gathered around the table and shared stories about him. Later, they released orange balloons and lanterns in his memory.
Sophomore Anna Howell met Jimenez when he lived on her floor last year. They were both members of the Media Living Learning Center.
“He was the kind of person that would waste no time knocking on your door, getting to know you and wanting to be your friend,” Howell said.
Howell said Jimenez was her first friend at IU. The friendship would last through the summer and into their second year of college.
His freshman year resident assistant, Justin Kittell, said he remembers how Jimenez constantly brought the floor together. There were people on the floor who did not talk to anyone but Jimenez, Kittell said.
“He reached out to the ones on my floor that were reclusive,” Kittell said.
Sophomores Leigh Van Ryn and Keristen Lucero said they remember the little things Jimenez would do for them.
Van Ryn said she remembers a day last year when she had been gone all day at class. She went up to her room, unlocked the door and found a note laying on her bed.
She walked over and saw it was from Jimenez, saying he loved her and he hoped she had a great day.
Van Ryn and Lucero said it was not uncommon for Jimenez to go out of his way to help others or cheer them up.
He once left a chocolate pastry on Lucero’s desk for her, and Van Ryn said she remembers the long nights Jimenez stayed up to help her with her calculus homework.
“He never let me apologize and always would help me,” Van Ryn said. “I would not have passed calculus if it wasn’t for him.”
One of Jimenez’s fraternity brothers, sophomore Akil Preddie, also said he remembers how giving Jimenez was. He often volunteered to help out brothers or participate in their community service events.
“He was always there, first in line,” Preddie said.
Everyone told stories of how Jimenez loved to joke around. They said he used silly voices and odd gestures to make people laugh. One time, Howell got a call from her Uber driver but did not want to answer it. Jimenez picked up the phone instead.
“He answered it, and he put on this god-awful voice that was embarrassing,” Howell said. “He was the goofiest kid that I met.”
Moments like these, and the friendship he provided others, are what many will miss most, Howell said.
“He never wanted anyone to feel like they didn’t have a friend,” Howell said.
Preddie said he remembers Jimenez as a spirit of light and feels an unbreakable bond between Jimenez and his fraternity brothers.
“We will always be together in spirit and in heart,” Preddie said.
