Coastal students remember performing arts freshman found dead in dorm as ‘a bright light’

SLED officials are investigating the death of a Coastal Carolina student who was found dead inside his dorm room Sunday night.

The name of the deceased student has not been released but students on campus still spoke about the former member of their academic community.

Several students, family members and previous teachers spoke about the student and the impact he left on the people in his life. North Myrtle Beach High School’s Performing Arts Department wrote that the student was majoring in theater at CCU at the time of his death.

Students of the Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts at CCU remember him impacting others in positive ways. Sophomore Maggie Smith attended one class with him, and recalled him being a “bright light” in the room.

“Every single week he would stand up and give an announcement about the club he was starting,” Smith said. According to Smith, he was trying to start a hip-hop dance club, because there wasn’t one like it on campus.

At what was meant to be the first rehearsal for a production of “The Green Bird” on Monday, faculty and counselors met with students to share memories about the freshman, who was cast into the ensemble.

It was a way to “come together and honor him, as well as process what happened,” Senior student Mitchel Maguire said. “The freshmen seemed to have great stories about him and he seemed to impact a lot of people in a positive way.”

One family member, Sinsei Zae, posted about the student’s death in a social media post.

“I was very proud of him all he wanted was to be a actor and make his friends and family proud,” Zae wrote.

Assistant Horry County Coroner Tamara Willard said she could not confirm if the student died of natural causes, but that the coroner’s office had “no reason to believe the student’s death was anything but natural.”

SLED was requested to step in Sunday night by Coastal Carolina University, according to Reneé Wunderlich, SLED spokesperson. Students were asked to avoid the area of Magnolia Hall by law enforcement, and routine operations resumed around 11 p.m.

“Losing a member our community is very difficult,” Coastal Carolina told students in a release on Monday. “At this time, our priority is to provide support to our campus community.”

Students were advised to contact Counseling Services at 843-349-2305.

This story was originally published November 29, 2022 at 2:04 PM.