Hundreds of West Virginia University Students gathered at the Mountainlair Plaza on Wednesday evening to remember their fellow West Virginia student, Emily Spickler.
Spickler died of natural causes while participating in a year-long exchange program in Toowoomba, Australia. She was found dead in her dorm room at the University of Southern Queensland just days shy of her 20th birthday.
A few of Spickler’s close friends prepared speeches on her behalf, including her hometown friend Caitlin Furbee, who put together the vigil.
Student Government Association Vice President Megan Callaghan read on behalf of Furbee. “If you have never met Emily Spickler, then you truly missed a walking angel. Emily’s life was cut way too short, but I can honestly say that she was not slighted whatsoever in achieving her dreams,” she said.
The Greek community at WVU came out to show support, including Spickler’s “big sister” in the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, Bethany Stuchell.
“She was always happy, she was always smiling, always super positive,” Stuchell said. “Anytime I had a bad day, she’d be able to turn it right around with her positive energy.”
“It is very tragic, and it could happen to any one of us,” Callaghan said.
Stuchell told the crowd how the AOPi house had been overwhelmed with support from the area’s sororities and fraternities, and that Spickler’s parents were astonished to see how close the Greek community was at West Virginia.
“In this situation, people can come together no matter what their letters are,” said Stuchell.
Spickler had just completed an internship at Los Angeles Magazine in Los Angeles, California and was an aspiring fashion journalist.
Both Furbee and Stuchell’s speeches were intended to motivate students through hard work and determination.
“Emily teaches us to follow what is most important to us today,” Callaghan said for Furbee, “and gives us the strength so that we, too, have the power inside of us to make our dreams come true.”