Garden at UNC honors Carson

CHAPEL HILL -- Two years ago, UNC-Chapel Hill student Katie Hukill thought nothing of walking alone through her neighborhood late into the evening.

Then Eve Carson was shot dead.

"I definitely don't walk alone at night," said Hukill, one of many students who say Carson's killing two years ago today forever changed their perception of Chapel Hill as a cloistered town free from random acts of violence. "I'm definitely more careful."

This heightened awareness is one of the many legacies Carson left to a campus still mourning her. The opening dedication of a new garden built in her name drew hundreds to a red-brick walkway off the main campus quadrangle Thursday afternoon.

There, they celebrated Carson's life again, noting all the ways her influence has lasted. Interest in public service, which Carson championed, has risen, officials say. So too has the profile of student government. In the two years since the student body president's death, scores of students have expressed interest in running for leadership posts.

"It has expanded the awareness of student government," Chancellor Holden Thorp said. "When I ask a lot of people why they're running for student body president, they say it's because of Eve."

Carson's successor, JJ Raynor, used her position to shine a spotlight on public safety, pushing student government to institute "Safe Walks," a buddy system of sorts for students who would otherwise walk home alone at night, said Jonathan Tugman, the student body secretary.

The garden, at the base of a massive oak tree, features a semicircular stone seating area facing a low, flat wall made of marble from Georgia, Carson's home state. It is inscribed with one of her favorite sayings: "Learn from every single being, experience and moment. What joy it is to search for lessons and goodness and enthusiasm in others."

Carson was shot dead in a neighborhood near campus. Two Durham men, Demario Atwater, 23, and Laurence Lovette, 19, are charged with her murder.

Atwater also faces federal kidnapping charges and is scheduled to go on trial in May. His lawyers have asked a federal judge to move the trial from North Carolina to Virginia, saying it would be too difficult to find jurors who have not been influenced by extensive media coverage of Carson's death.

Atwater and Lovette weren't mentioned at the garden dedication. Rather, the short program was filled with smiles, laughter and reflection. In the minds of many on campus, Carson is still very much alive.

"The impact she had on campus was unmistakable and unforgettable," said Stephanie Mazzucca, a 2008 UNC-CH graduate who works on campus. "She was a wonderful person."