SIU Carbondale comes together for candlelight vigil for beloved professor

CARBONDALE, Ill. (Heartland News) - It was a somber night on the SIU Carbondale Campus on Tuesday as the university community came together to celebrate the life of Dr. Kofi Akamani.

Hundreds of students, colleagues, family, and friends flooded the front lawn of SIU’s School of Agriculture for a candlelight vigil to remember their dear friend.

Rebecca Kagaris is a Ph.D. candidate in SIU’s School of Forestry and a friend to Dr. Akamani. She says he couldn’t have been a more beloved human being.

“Everyone loved him. Everyone knew him. He greeted everyone. He treated everyone as a special person. He helped everyone along to excel at SIU. Which is an incredible gift,” says Kagaris.

Kagaris says she asked Dr. Akamani just weeks ago if he had any plans to move on to a bigger university with all of his international studies. She says leaving southern Illinois was never in the cards for him.

“He said to me, ‘You know. I love my southern Illinois. I love SIU. I love being here. I love the local work that I do with the Cache River. I also love to be able to be based here in this kind of a community and this landscape and then still escape to do my travels and work around the world,’” said Kagaris.

Dr. Kristina Boone is the dean of SIU’s College of Agriculture.

She remembers Dr. Akamani as a light that could shine across the entire campus.

“He lit up everybody’s day. Literally. You would break into a smile just because he was so kind and generous,” says Dr. Boone.

As for his relationships with his students, she says Dr. Akamani was able to connect with each of them on a more human level.

“I talked with a graduate student yesterday. Who greeted him every day as a brother. And despite being a much higher-ranked individual, he always treated him with humility and kindness. That’s the kind of person he was. Very generous,” added Dr. Boone.

Kagaris says her dear friend would want to be remembered as kind and gentle.

“Nothing seemed to bother him. He took everything with ease, and he approached everything with ease and in a relaxed manner. And I’m going to take that with me the rest of my life,” says Kagaris.

A memorial service for Dr. Akamani will be announced in the near future.