As the melody of a sole violin echoed in Bodek Lounge last night, the family and friends of Jose Joseph gathered to pay tribute to his life.
Joseph, a Wharton junior from Venice, Fla., fell to his death from an eighth floor window of Hamilton College House on Oct. 29, in what has been ruled a suicide.
Yesterday's memorial service gave the Penn community in its entirety the opportunity to come together to remember him. More than 75 people filled the room in Houston Hall.
"Today, as we come together as a community to mourn the tragic passing of one of our own, we remember an enormously warm and thoughtful young man whose friends and family described as amazing," University President Judith Rodin said in a statement that was read at the ceremony. "We should celebrate a life that touched so many people so magnificently."
Joseph, who was studying Business and Public Policy and Operation and Information Management, worked as an information technology advisor in Hamilton.
"I'd like to think that we will, by the end of this service, have knit together a textured blanket of memories to come in handy on those days that we feel ambushed by loneliness, sadness and loss," University Chaplain William Gipson said in his opening remarks.
Throughout the service, Penn professors and students spoke on behalf of Joseph, remembering his spiky hair, computer expertise and signature "wife-beater" T-shirts. In addition to the invited speakers, audience members could come up and share their memories of Joseph as well.
One student remembered how Joseph would routinely fix himself egg whites and vegetarian sausage for breakfast, while another spoke of his affinity for the Philadelphia 76ers.
If anything, however, it was Joseph's sense of humor and selflessness that students and faculty repeatedly spoke of during the service.
Management Professor Anne Greenhalgh, who taught Joseph during his freshman year, described the time he dressed up like singer Ricky Martin for a presentation.
"He came to class wearing tight black pants with purple hair, and, if my memory serves me correctly, he even shaved his chest," Greenhalgh said. "Jose brought so much humor, brilliance and personality to our class."
Roberta Stack, the dean of Hamilton, remembered when she once asked Joseph to carry their house flag at Convocation. On the day of the ceremony, Joseph showed up wearing an overwhelmingly large robe, a sight Stack said she would never forget.
"It was a moment of delight that will always enrich my life," Stack said.
Later in the service, Nicole Chargualaf, a College junior, spoke of Joseph's affinity for quoting movies. She herself cited a line from the film Deliverance, "he was the best of us," to represent Joseph's altruism and devotion to his friends.
"He cared more about other people than himself," Chargualaf said. "There were no bad times with him, and he never lost his temper."
Presenters also read passages from a T.S. Eliot poem and the Bible in remembrance of Joseph, and Wharton junior Brendan Callahan played a solo on his violin.
Following the service, attendees signed a guest book for Joseph's parents, who could not attend the event.
"The service was a good way for all of us to come together and remember the wonderful person that Jose was," said Chaughloff, who helped organize the event. "It was great to see so many of his friends and people from the Penn community come and remember him with us."
Added College junior Liz Coopersmith: "The most important thing is that as sad as we are, we are so lucky to have known him."
