By Sean Begin
Family and friends, teammates and classmates, gathered to remember and reminisce about the late Jamar Johnson last Tuesday in Alumni Hall.
Johnson, a Traveler’s EDGE (Empowering Dreams for Graduation and Employment) scholar and member of the Central Connecticut football team, passed away Aug. 2 from injuries sustained during a July 28 car crash.
“On behalf of the campus community, we offer our deepest sympathy to his grieving family and friends,” said CCSU President Jack Miller in a statement released following Johnson’s death.
The vigil brought together multiple communities that had all been instrumental in Johnson’s life both before and during his time at Central: from the Johnson family, to his classmates in the EDGE program, to teammates from both the Central football team as well as the Bloomington High School football team.
Johnson was remembered by several people whom both impacted his life and whose lives he had an impact on, including fellow EDGE classmates and teammates from the football team.
C.J. Morrison, who joined the team as a freshman alongside Johnson, told how, in an Archaeology class the two took together, Johnson would pester Morrison to keep him from falling asleep. Morrison went on to relate how Johnson helped him following a bad performance on a first test.
“Jamar gets a B and I’m sitting right next to him and I get a D. And I’m looking at him like ‘So you knew all the answers and you decided not to help me.’ So he said, ‘Ok, next test we’ll study together.’ And I ended up passing with a B+ and it was all thanks to Jamar,” said Morrison.
Following the vigil, Morrison recounted how Johnson would always turn down offers to go out at night in favor of staying in to study and do homework. Another of Johnson’s teammates, Josh Alaeze, told a similar story.
“I remember one time we were at a study hall late and he stayed at study hall till about 12:00, just because,” said Alaeze. “He was young, he was living, but when it came down to taking care of school work and business, that came first.”
Johnson was a member of the Traveler’s EDGE program, which had given him a full scholarship to attend CCSU. Football coach Jeff McInerney described Johnson as putting academics ahead of athletics, an attitude that shows in his teammates’ stories.
Johnson was remembered by his teammates as well as his classmates as a kind hearted and funny individual who could bring out a laugh or smile in any person he met.
“He was an extraordinary person. He was the type that could walk into any room and just light it up,’ said Keila Marmol, a fellow member of the EDGE program. Another of Johnson’s classmates, Alleah Red, said, “We will always remember him and his ridiculously unique humor and ability to make anyone laugh hysterically.”
Rose Johnson, Jamar’s mother, echoed the sentiments of his teammates and classmates, describing Jamar as “positive, caring, compassionate, and a team player.”
“Jamar was a leader and could be relied upon by his friends. He always had a listening ear and gave helpful advice to his peers,” said Rose. “Most of all Jamar loved to live life to the fullest. He was a child any parents would be proud of.”
The vigil was a chance for the CCSU community to join with the Johnson family in remembering a young man who died so suddenly. It provided a common place to both remember and grieve for Jamar Johnson.
“It means a lot to us that you have chosen to honor Jamar in such a spectacular way,” said Rose Johnson. “He was an awesome child. It was an honor to have him in my life. Please remember who he was and what he stood for.”