Slain UNC student honored at graduation ceremony

Chapel Hill, N.C. —  A page in memoriam about slain University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Student Body President Eve Carson appeared in Sunday’s commencement program.

About 15,000 people attended the Kenan Stadium ceremony, shortened due to a rain.

For many graduates, however, it was a bittersweet celebration as Carson, who would have been among those graduating, was remembered. Carson, of Athens, Ga., was found shot to death March 5 in a street near campus.

“We wish she could be here with us, but we know that she's looking over us. We just want to show her that we love her and show something that represents her,” graduate Nikita Peoples said.

Some students wore a remembrance pin in honor of Carson on their graduation robes.

“I think everybody has their own little way of remembering her by. You know, she probably was here in spirit,” graduate Chase Lowrance said.

“Eve had such an impact on everybody's life out here,” Peoples said.

The university awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree with the highest distinction to the 22-year-old senior.

Senior Class President Ashley Shores also spoke of Carson during her remarks to the audience.

“I consider myself enormously privileged to have known and worked with Eve Carson, our beloved class member, student body president and friend,” Shores said.

Demario James Atwater, 21, and Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr., 17, are each charged with first-degree murder in Carson's death.