At both events, those who knew Ewunetie shared memories of her brilliance, kindness, and incredibly generous spirit.
Members of Ewunetie’s family were in attendance at the PEESA vigil. PEESA co-presidents Faeven Mussie ’24 and Joachim Ambaw ’24 organized the event, which was held in the University Chapel.
“We lost a really, really integral part of our community,” Ambaw said in an opening statement to the event.
Ewunetie’s father thanked everyone for being there, and shared words in both Amharic and English on behalf of the family.
A priest brought in by the Ewunetie family led a prayer and a religious song during the event.
The Chapel was over half-full, with more than 500 students, faculty, and other community members in attendance.
Genie Choi ’24 and Jamie Feder ’23, two of Ewunetie’s friends, spoke as well. Both reflected on having first met Ewunetie while taking COS 126: Computer Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach — the introductory computer science course — during the fall 2020 semester when the whole of the student body was remote due to COVID-19.