Almost 200 Whitman students gathered under an overcast sky May 28 to mourn the loss of one of their own, sophomore Yousef Awadh. Their candles flickering in the breeze, students and staff recalled their favorite memories of Yousef. “You always have friends who you can compare to others—like oh, she’s like this friend and he reminds me of that friend,” sophomore Ally Chelst said. “But there is no one I can compare to Yousef. He was one of a kind. I don’t think I’ll ever meet anyone like him again, but I just feel lucky I had the opportunity to meet him.” Students learned of Yousef’s passing through social media sites on Memorial Day. Principal Alan Goodwin shared the news with the Whitman community and called for a moment of silence.

Yousef was a very active member of the International Club. He modeled students’ creations in both the International Night fashion show and the Fashion Society show held every spring. ESOL resource teacher Sonja Maroni spoke of Yousef’s character at the memorial.  Maroni said what made Yousef special was his overwhelming empathy for others. “My most vivid memory of Yousef was his first day at Whitman,” she recalled. “He had just moved from Kuwait. He didn’t speak much English, and he had told me he was feeling nervous and out of place.” But despite being in a completely unfamiliar setting, he saw a student in the ESOL classroom who was very upset and sitting off by herself. He went straight over to her and got her laughing and talking, cheering her up. I feel like my memory of that day encompasses Yousef’s character very well.” Other students spoke of their close friendship with Yousef and how he helped them through challenging times. “Yousef was such a good friend to me,” said sophomore Thomas Svodoba.“He helped me come out earlier this year and has always been there for me.”