It took the students about four months to build the house, and only five minutes to come to tears during the dedication.
More than 100 fraternity brothers gathered Saturday to dedicate a Habitat for Humanity home to the family of Banyanwe Mehn. The home was built as part of a blitz-build initiative by Brothers for David, a partnership of seven fraternities formed in memory of David Shannon.
The annual blitz-build project for fraternity pledges began four years ago after Delta Kappa Epsilon president Courtland Smith was shot to death by police in 2009. His fraternity organized a Habitat for Humanity build in his memory.
Shannon was a UNC freshman and a pledge in the Chi Phi fraternity when he died after falling 40 feet from machinery at Carrboro’s Ready Mixed Concrete Plant in October.
“He was a super super guy,” said David’s grandfather Charles Clapp. “He had a world of potential. That’s the sad part — he wasn’t able to fill his potential.”
Hugh Shannon, David’s father, was also in attendance Sunday.
“It’s a wonderful thing that such a wonderful family can have a house in honor of David,” he said in a speech to the crowd.
Everett Young , who chaired the project last year, said more than 300 fraternity members from seven different chapters worked on the houses. He said the fraternities raised more than $50,000 to build the home.
Young said in his time with Chi Phi, Shannon raised the most money for the blitz-build in the fraternity.