While organizers scurried to grab more chairs to accommodate the larger-than-expected audience minutes before Friday’s MU Remembers ceremony, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Cathy Scroggs held up a finger to pianist Christian Basi, telling him to play one final piece.

As that piece ended, Scroggs took the stage to begin celebrating the students whose lives ended too soon.

“One of the best aspects of my job is working closely with students,” Scroggs said. “College is a time in their lives when their goals are still achievable and any dream is within reach. At MU, we push students to achieve those goals and make their dreams a reality. The saddest aspect of my job is when I learn that a student had their life taken too early.”

Scroggs then introduced Missouri Students Association President Eric Woods and Graduate Professional Council President Kristofferson Culmer to commemorate the lives of the 11 students who have passed in the last year. These students include:

**Matthew Bazoian**

Matthew Bazoian, or “BAZ” as he was known by his many friends at MU, was a music guru.

Bazoian constantly opened his friends’ eyes to new bands and songs. Out of the thousands of songs on his computer, his favorite lyric was by the band Sound Tribe Sector 9.

“Listen more closely to the subtle rhythms of life,” the lyric reads.

In addition to his music tastes, Bazoian is remembered for his humor. Family and friends said he was loved by everybody he met.

He loved concerts, skateboards, cars and his dog, Andy.

His first name means “Gift of God,” and after his passing, Bazoian gave a gift of his own. An organ donor, Bazoian gave the gift of life to a 13-year-old girl to whom he gave a kidney.

Shortly after completing his freshman year at MU, Bazoian died in early June from injuries resulting from a skateboard accident.

**Eric Krieger**

Friday was Eric Krieger’s birthday. He would have been 20 years old.

MU was in Krieger’s blood. After his two older brothers, Kurt and Todd, attended MU, Krieger followed suit. He could often times be found joining his family and younger sister Heidi at the “Krieger tailgates” before games, even before he was a student. He loved sports and was a Tiger fan through and through.

Family and friends remember Krieger as being a smart and a hard worker, consistently on the Dean’s List. He could be found oftentimes listening to music, watching movies and playing video games. He constantly found new hobbies to fill his time.

Krieger’s smile was infectious, loved ones said. He might have been quiet at times, but he wouldn’t ever miss the chance to make someone laugh.

A sophomore in the Trulaske College of Business, Krieger died Jan. 29.

**Caitlyn LeClerc**

Born weighing only two pounds, Caitlyn LeClerc didn’t let her smaller-than-average size get in her way. Twenty-one years later, a 5-foot-2-inch LeClerc was a second lieutenant in the National Guard and able to complete 88 pushups in two minutes.

LeClerc graduated from the Wentworth Military Academy in 2010 and began taking classes at MU this fall. While at Wentworth, LeClerc won the Outstanding Company Commander award, recognizing her leadership and service.

“The thing I remember most about her is the fact that she always had a smile on her face,” Col. Michael Lierman, who worked with LeClerc at the academy, told The Maneater in September.

She was a Military Intelligence officer in the Missouri National Guard. In high school, she was a member of the National Honor Society and ROTC. She was also named prom queen and a ROTC drill team commander.

LeClerc died Sept. 6 from injuries sustained from a car accident as she returned to MU from the Lake of the Ozarks.

**Michael Miller**

Sunday evening, an audience at the Mizzou New Play Series saw “Spirit’s Traveling Salvation Show,” one of Michael Miller’s brainchildren.

Miller loved the theater, and he loved to write.

“And was he ever a playwright,” Director of Undergraduate Studies David Crespy told The Maneater in February. “He was incredibly prolific.”

Heavily immersed in the Department of Theatre, Miller’s work was often recognized. “Trouble in the Mash,” a one-act play he wrote, won the 2010 Undergraduate Creative Writing Award.

Crespy coined Miller a “young Tennessee Williams.”

His passion for the arts was not limited to the theater. Miller loved film and music as well. He was a three-year volunteer at the True/False Film Festival. He loved attending Columbia’s many music concerts.

Miller died Jan. 27 after an ongoing battle with muscular dystrophy.

**Jonathan Morgan**

Jonathan Morgan had a lot to give.

Whether it was a laugh or academic help, Morgan was always helping others. After three years at MU, Morgan was a student tutor and interned at the MU Research Reactor.

“He was adored by his colleagues and those he helped to teach just the same,” Woods read at the ceremony.

Family and friends remember Morgan for his bright blue eyes, rosy cheeks and his brain. His sense of humor was contagious, and he often changed peoples’ days for the better.

“He was sweet and kind and touched the hearts of many people who were close to him,” Woods read. “His effect on those who knew him will be present for many years to come.”

Morgan died Jan. 8.

**Daniel Schatz**

Daniel Schatz lived and breathed sports and the outdoors.

A reserve quarterback for the MU football team, Schatz was a sophomore studying business and marketing. In high school, Schatz excelled in football, basketball, baseball and track. He focused on football at MU.

Family members noted that, though he excelled in a variety of sports, Schatz’s true love was the outdoors. His passions included hunting, fishing and horseback riding.

Schatz was also a member of the Temple Baptist Church back home in Sullivan where he was involved with mission trips and the youth group.

“Daniel had a way of making everyone he came in contact with feel very special,” Woods read.

He is the son of Missouri House representative Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan.

Schatz died Aug. 5 in a school bus and truck collision on Interstate 44.

**Scott Schmitt**

In his senior year at MU, Scott Schmitt was contemplating the future.

He was considering a career in radio or broadcast sports journalism. Schmitt was also considering graduate or law school, his father John Schmitt said. He was probably going to take the LSAT exam.

“He was getting ready for life after Mizzou,” he told The Maneater in September.

Schmitt hoped to visit every baseball stadium in the country. He enjoyed vacations, whether it was to a far city or somewhere as close as the Lake of the Ozarks with family.

An avid John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen fan, Schmitt loved live music. He enjoyed watching “Jeopardy!,” “The Daily Show,” “Seinfeld” and “The Simpsons.”

Schmitt died Aug. 28.

**Ian Thomas**

Ian Thomas was a writer.

Oftentimes, Thomas could be found on the easternmost column in Francis Quadrangle writing. He told friends it was his favorite because it was the closest to his home state of Pennsylvania.

“He enjoyed not only the academic world of Mizzou but the social one,” Woods read. “He had developed many good friends here.”

These same friends held a ceremony shortly after his passing in which they placed 150 carnations on this column.

“Ian considered Mizzou to be his second home,” Woods read.

A creative writing student, Thomas admired Mark Twain. He hoped to someday find success through his writing. He served as sports editor of his high school newspaper, and was a senior staff writer for The Maneater.

Thomas passed on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.

**Caitlin Valora**

The second Caitlin Valora walked onto MU’s campus her senior year of high school, she knew where she wanted to attend college.

“She was hooked from that moment on, and it ended up being a perfect fit,” Woods said.

She loved Columbia’s small-town feel and the people that inhabited it. She loved her friends and she loved children, and she worked for daycares at home and in Columbia.

“She loved working with kids,” her father Mike Valora told The Maneater in August. “She talked about her kids constantly.”

Although she wasn’t involved in any organizations at MU, her father said this is what set her apart from others.

“She was a free spirit,” he said. “She did not do a lot of organized groups. She did her own thing.”

A sociology student, Valora dreamed of helping orphans in Romania and volunteering in Africa. She couldn’t wait to become a mother.

Valora died Aug. 9 in a motorcycle accident; days before beginning her junior year at MU.

**Mason Cummins**

Mason Cummins was one week from graduating from the School of Medicine in May.

A graduate student, Cummins attended Drury University where he was a member of the Sigma Pi fraternity.

“Mason was very passionate and loved photography,” college roommate and fraternity brother Eric Levell said. “He was just an artist all around, as he enjoyed playing the piano, violin and singing.”

He even photographed Levell’s wedding.

“He always thought of others before himself,” Levell told The Maneater in May.

Andrew White, another friend of Cummins, reiterated Levell’s thoughts.

“I would describe him as a man of passion,” White said. “It didn’t matter if it was school, photography or art.”

Cummins died May 8.

**Norman “Paul” Nolen**

Norman “Paul” Nolen dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.

Studying pathobiology, Nolen was a research fellow at MU. His bachelor’s degree was from Tuskegee Institute. At Tuskegee, Nolen was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

While at MU, Nolen worked with the Division of Animal Research.

Nolen was found dead in his car on the Interstate 70 exit ramp March 23.

“The academic community will feel keenly the absence of each student’s contributions to research and teaching,” Culmer said. “And yet the university’s loss cannot begin to touch the sorrow felt by the friends and families of all these students.”

The audience observed a moment of silence after the names were read. Each student’s names were engraved into the wall of Memorial Union and Ellis Library donated a book in each’s honor.

The deceased students will always remain a member of the MU family, Deputy Chancellor Mike Middleton said.

“All families experience happiness together, and we all experience sadness together,” Middleton said. “The MU family is no exception.”