Friends, family and professors gather to remember Kambili Moukwa

Kambili Moukwa was many things to many people, according to friend and third-year Ph.D. student Garry Bertholf, including a "brilliant student, pithy comedian, fearless dancer and self-proclaimed 'King of Smokey Joe's.'"

During an on-campus memorial Saturday afternoon at Fisher-Bennett Hall, family, friends and faculty gathered to honor the College senior, who was discovered near Penn's Landing Jan. 2 after dying of hypothermia the day before.

University Chaplain Charles Howard led the service, which included both scheduled and open-to-the-public remarks.

Aviva Kievsky, a member of Mayor Michael Nutter's office who worked with Moukwa while he was an intern, said she would particularly miss his laugh and "intellect with a genuine warmth."

"When you looked at Kam, you knew he was going somewhere," she said.

In one of the lighter moments of the afternoon, College junior Langston Smith recalled seeing Moukwa arrive for a trip the two took in Martha's Vineyard wearing one of his "classic" outfits - "tan topsiders, pink shorts, a blue polo and a Boston Red Sox hat."

The mother of one of Moukwa's friends spoke of her appreciation that Moukwa would venture out to her house in West Philadelphia, and also encouraged students to "be mindful of the choices you make."

Several of Moukwa's professors and academic advisors also shared memories of him in the classroom.

"Too few students see college as a time for personal growth and academic and career enrichment," said College assistant Dean Gary Purpura, adding that he was most impressed by the way Moukwa responded to challenges and reached out to those who might be able to offer guidance.

"He was a great work-in-progress," Purpura said.

"He brought together this group of individual students," said Political Science professor Eileen Doherty-Sil.

College assistant dean and sociology professor Hocine Fetni called Moukwa his "dream student."

"He always wanted more responsibility - maybe not more work, but always more responsibility," said Smith. "He had a voracious appetite for learning."

The memorial also included a photo slideshow with pictures from Moukwa's childhood to his time at Penn.

A rendition of Over the Rainbow was performed by Bertholf on tenor saxophone and Music professor Guthrie Ramsey on piano.

In noticing how Moukwa liked to make the peace sign in many photos, Howard concluded the service by asking those present to make the sign, adding, "Let's be at peace and work at peace."

Moukwa's mother and two sisters also traveled to campus for the memorial.

"Kambili was a gift from God," his mother Barbara said. "We are sad, but we will find the strength to live on."

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