Students and alumni gathered at a lecture hall in the Social Sciences building Thursday evening to remember Tyler Muldoon, the student who passed away this weekend.
As the doors to the lecture hall opened, seats quickly filled up and left several people standing in the back. Brothers of the Delta Sigma Pi fraternity took up the majority of the room, and members of the ROTC program filled the rest. As people walked in for the service, they hugged each other.
In the front of the room, leaders of the co-ed business fraternity stood with grim looks on their faces. Emily Kazdin, president of Delta Sigma Pi, smiled as she noticed several people wearing bowties in the crowd.
“Tyler loved bowties,” said Yannick Cali, one of Muldoon’s fraternity brothers who was wearing a bowtie. “He would have like for people to wear the bowties, and I thought it was appropriate.”
Kazdin read a couple of words reserved for brothers of the fraternity who have passed away. She stopped several times to collect herself.
“He was a very valued brother,” Kazdin said. “As VP of Pledge Education, he would prepare the pledges to be brothers in the fraternity. He was a hard-worker and very passionate.”
Kaylie Prete is a brother that was close to Tyler during the pledge process. She laughed as she remembered the number of times they would wear the same shirt and leggings without planning ahead of time.
“He was a genuinely good guy,” Prete said. “He would walk in and command a room naturally, but you could reach out to him no matter what. He touched the lives of thousands, and will definitely be missed.”
A slideshow was presented after Kazdin spoke. Laughter broke out as attendees saw Muldoon posing in a Robin costume with his friends dressed as Batman or Muldoon cooking barbecue with a cigar in his mouth. The fraternity is continuing to collect photos of their brother in an album on Facebook.
Tyler’s “big,” Phinehas Livingstone, remembers Muldoon as someone who would do anything for anyone.
“He would be the brother you would call,” Livingstone said. “It hits me in waves…the fact that we can’t do the little things anymore.”
Tyler was also known for his body building. He was preparing for his first bodybuilding competition, and basically lived at the gym according to Kazdin. T-shirts with a barbells on them are being sold by the fraternity in order to raise money for the family. A paver, or an engraved stone that paves the Student Union Plaza, will also be installed over the summer in memory of Muldoon. It will read “Son, friend and brother. Keep lifting.”
Despite his tough physical appearance, people remember Muldoon as a goofy guy with a big heart. From his love of bowties to the bright red leggings he wore, students will always remember his spirit and positive attitude toward life.
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