Remembering his “ubiquitous” presence in and out of class, President Tom Hudnut opened an assembly on Monday in the memory of Justin Carr ’14, which featured a performance of Carr’s favorite song “Unclouded Day” by the Chamber Singers.
“You knew Justin. We all knew Justin. How could you not know Justin. Everywhere you looked, there was Justin Carr,” Hudnut said.
Carr died Friday afternoon after losing consciousness in the pool during swimming practice. An autopsy determined that Carr was afflicted with cardiomyopathy, Hudnut said, a condition that can lead to sudden heart failure.
“Ours is a stiller town this morning,” Hudnut said, referring to a stanza in A.E. Housman’s poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” that he recited.
Carr was set to perform at the Dance Concert this weekend, planned to go to Europe with the Chamber Singers during Spring Break, and introduced actor Samuel L. Jackson at the Black History Assembly earlier this month as a leader of the Black Leadership Awareness and Culture Club.
“He loved this place,” Hudnut said. “He had such pride in being a Harvard-Westlake student.”
“Few things meant more to [Carr] than his fellow Chamber Singers,” Hudnut said as he introduced the Chamber Singers, all dressed in their gray sweatshirts, before an audience that included BLACC members wearing a sweatshirt that Carr helped create.
Taylor Lasley ’08 spoke on behalf of Carr’s family thanking those who reached out to them in the past few days.
“We hope that in his memory you support each other and smile just a little brighter knowing that your lives were touched as special as [Carr],” Lasley said.
Lasley said the photos of Justin were being collected for the funeral service on Saturday. The photos for a slideshow should be sent to [email protected] by the end of the day Wednesday.
A video camera also was set up in the Dean’s Conference Room in Chalmers where students could record their memories of Carr for his family on Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
School chaplain Father J.Young led a brief prayer during the assembly in accordance with “[Carr]’s tradition and tradition of this school” before Head of School Audrius Barzdukas dismissed students from Taper Gym, reminding students in his closing remarks to “take care of each other” throughout the day. Another assembly in honor of Carr was held at the Middle School also at 8 a.m. Monday.
Students and faculty wore stickers, handed out by Prefect Council on Tuesday, with single ‘J’ in honor of Carr and of Julia Siegler ’14 who died in a traffic accident on Feb. 26, 2010. This weekend’s dance show has also been dedicated to Carr’s memory.
A candlelight vigil will be held at 5 p.m. Friday in Feldman-Horn plaza. An email invited students to “share a poem, a story about Justin, a poem, a prayer or anything else you believe would honor him” at an open mic during the event. Funeral services will be held at All-Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Share a memory of Justin Carr ’14 on our memorial page ‘Remembering Justin Carr.’ The Chronicle will run an obituary celebrating Carr’s life and time at Harvard-Westlake in its March Issue.
