Several University students are organizing a hackathon to be held Nov. 15-16 in honor of late second-year Engineering student Connor Cormier, who committed suicide in October.
“Coding in Honor of Connor” builds upon similar events such as Hack Virginia and hack.uva. Dean of Students Allen Groves approached these students, who were already planning a hackathon, with the idea of holding a computer programming competition in memory of Cormier.
"This hackathon is in memory of Connor and will be a celebration of his life,” a description of the event distributed to corporate sponsors read. “The University community has felt the loss of Connor, especially those who knew him personally and were in his class. This is an opportunity for our community to come together and honor his life!"
Fourth-year College student Rebecca Galt said the event will have sponsors from both within and outside of the University community — including Engineering Student Council, Student Council, Second Year Council and Capital One.
During the event, students will collaborate to develop a computer application which will solve a problem or challenge posed at the beginning of the 24-hour event. The participants will then be judged by corporate sponsors and the winning teams will receive prizes.
All proceeds from the event will be donated to Computers4Kids, which is an organization that provides home-computer access to low income youths in order to improve their technology and learning skills.
Student Council President Jalen Ross, a fourth-year Engineering student, said the Hackathon is being put on by a group of students in the Commerce Schools' Project Management class.
“The team planning the event is based in a class in the Commerce School that was already beginning to plan a hackathon when Connor passed,” Ross said in an email. “When the idea to remember Connor with a hackathon was raised, it was a natural partnership for Student Council and all other sponsors to join the COMM 3200 team to make it happen.”
Second Year Council President Abraham Axler, a College student, said Second Year Council is providing $500 dollars toward the event.
“Connor was beloved member of our class and we greatly appreciate the chance to support this hackathon,” he said.
Though the Hackathon is the first event to honor Cormier, Axler said other similar projects are in development.
“The hackathon is the tangible thing that’s happening, but other things are in development,” Axler said. “We want to do the right thing, so it’s taking a little bit of time to get that right thing together.”
Galt said Cormier’s parents have been especially supportive of the hackathon.
“We have been in contact with Connor's parents through the Office of the Dean of Students, and understand that they appreciate the idea of remembering Connor with the kind of coding competition he loved,” Galt said.
Cormier, a native of Fredericksburg, Virginia, was a second-year computer science major. He participated in the International Collegiate Programming Contest and Hackathons.
Registration for the Hackathon opens at 10 a.m. Nov. 15, and the competition begins at 2 p.m. The event will be held on the third floor of Clemons Library.
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