When Community Matters the Most

Above: The shrine to Max Evensen on stage at the event celebrating his life. Photo by Kevin Wong. 

Dear Class of 2020,

It’s an exciting time—the final semester of your undergraduate years at Bentley. You’re nearing the close of an important chapter in your lives and are about to embark on the next phase of your professional and academic journeys. Yet as you do, I know these past few weeks have been difficult as our community continues to mourn the loss of your classmate Max Evensen.

Wednesday’s event celebrating Max’s life showed clearly that his loss is one that our entire community felt deeply—but particularly the Class of 2020. You have known and grown with Max since arriving on campus. Together you transformed from unsure newcomers to senior leaders of our student community. And along the way you made countless memories together—studying in classrooms, laughing in dorm rooms and sharing meals in the 921.

At this week’s service, we heard some of those memories from Max’s close friends and teammates. About his big, energetic personality and his epic hugs. About his talent for costume parties and his infamous dance moves. About his enthusiasm for life and his kindness to others. And most of all, about his genuine interest in others and his ability to make you feel like the most important person in the room, whether you knew him for five years or five minutes.

I know it meant a great deal to Max’s parents and sister, who were able to join us, to hear those special memories. As I mentioned on Wednesday, the event celebrating Max was not about saying goodbye. It was about coming together to remember in our own ways what Max meant to us, his Bentley family. Times of loss are when community is needed the most, and I’m glad we could be there for one another.
 

Your class knows this well, unfortunately. At the start of your junior year, we gathered to mourn the loss of another classmate, Ahmed Maruf. No class should have to experience the loss of a classmate, let alone twice. But after Ahmed’s passing, the Class of 2020 came together to support each another and remember him. Together, you helped raise money in Ahmed’s memory to build water wells in India, Pakistan and Nepal and contribute to the construction of a mosque and Islamic school in Malawi. You came together then, just as you did this week for Max, reminding us all how important community is.

It is still early in the semester, and there is so much to look forward to before you reach graduation. This week, next week and beyond, we’ll still feel the loss of both Max and Ahmed, but it’s comforting to know that we’re here to support each other in this time of grief. I hope you’ll remember that as we continue to be grateful that we had the chance to know Max and feel his presence in our lives.

President Davis-Blake