This year, the University community felt much grief at the loss of eight students — Margaret Lowe, Kurt Hilburger, Paul Kim, John Paul Popovich, Ceili Leahy, Quentin Alcorn, Derek Sousa and Juliana Porter. Even though these students have died, their memory and legacy lives on in the University community.
Rising fourth-year Engineering student Quentin Alcorn died in June 2015 in Richmond, Virginia. Known as Quent to friends, Alcorn was a chemical engineering major and president of Theta Chi. He also volunteered as a wrestling coach for high school coaches in the area.
Fourth-year College student Margaret Lowe died Sept. 1. She is survived by her parents, Whitson and Sandra Lowe and her brothers, John and Mark.
She was pursuing a major in Classics in Ancient Greek and was hoping to attend medical school.
Lowe was very active in the University community. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, held leadership in the Inter-Sorority Council and was co-chair of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team. She also volunteered with Madison House and Camp Kesem as well as participating in Bike and Build, in which she biked across the country to promote affordable housing and raise money.
Fourth-year College student Kurt Hilburger died Sept. 30. He is survived by his parents, John and Jill Hilburger, and numerous friends and relatives.
He was pursuing a major in Archaeology and Anthropology.
Hilburger was a member of the Brown Residential College and was active in the community through serving on the governing board and participating in Brown Hauntings, a haunted house that raises money for the homeless. He lived in the residential college his first, second and third year.
Juliana Porter died Oct. 4, 2015, and attended the School of Medicine and was a member of the class of 2017. She is survived by her parents, Kent and Ann Porter, her younger brother and sister, her fiancé and her family members and friends.
Porter graduated with an undergraduate degree in Biology from Davidson College in 2012. At Davidson, she was a varsity swimmer and Academic All-Conference student athlete. She also volunteered at the Health Reach Community Clinic.
She entered the School of Medicine in August 2012. While at the University, she volunteered at the Virginia Institute for Autism and held leadership in the Christian Medical Students Association.
First-year student John Paul Popovich died Dec. 18. He is survived by his parents, John and Karen Popovich, his younger siblings, Matthew and Kylee and his extended family members and friends.
Prior to attending the University, Popovich swam competitively with SNOW Swimming and set a state record in the 200 individual medley. Because of this, he was ultimately named to the Dominion Titans’ Wall of Fame at Dominion High School in Loudoun County.
During his time at the University, he began his involvement by being an active member of the Echols/Humphreys dorm community, the American Medical Student Association and the Alexander Hamilton Society.
Second-year student Paul Kim died Jan. 12. He is survived by his parents, Tae and Kyung Kim, as well as his other family members and friends.
Kim was interested in economics, finance and international business, and was hoping to be accepted to the McIntire School of Commerce. Additionally, Kim wanted to study Korean in order to communicate with his family in their native language.
He was a member of the Johnson Malone Weedon Community Council and lived in Weedon house. He was also involved in Chi Alpha and had a love for music, particularly hip-hop.
Former College student Ceili Leahy died Jan. 27 after fighting two forms of cancer. Leahy was a member of the class of 2018 and completed her first semester in fall 2014 and part of her second semester in spring 2015 before she withdrew due to her illness.
She is survived by her parents, John and Leslie Leahy and her younger brother John, as well as other family members and friends.
During her time at the University, she was involved with the Climate Action Society. She also participated in rallies surrounding sexual assault in November 2014 and the tuition hike in March 2015.
Leahy was very open about her health, writing articles for The Cavalier Daily and Fredericksburg’s Free Lance-Star. She also appeared on a local radio station, WFVA, to discuss her decision to end her cancer treatment.
College student Derek Sousa died Feb. 18. He is survived by his parents, siblings many members of his extended family. Sousa was studying biology and had a passion for knowledge and exploration.
Our University community will continue to mourn the loss of these impactful students. The Cavalier Daily would like to express its deepest condolences to the families and friends of Margaret, Kurt, Paul, John Paul, Ceili, Juliana, Derek and Quentin.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Derek Sousa died Feb. 16.
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