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The Daily Tar Heel

Eve Carson scholarship awarded to two UNC juniors

Clarke, De La Rosa picked from 95

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This summer, Zach De La Rosa hopes to travel abroad to promote economic development.

Nearly three years after her death, Eve Carson’s legacy on campus will be carried on by students who never knew her.

Late Sunday night, juniors Mark Clarke and Zach De La Rosa were selected as this year’s recipients of the Eve Carson Scholarship.

Clarke and De La Rosa are members of the first class of students who were not at UNC when Carson was killed in March 2008. But they said they still feel a connection to the former student body president.

“It’s in a very sort of general way, but I think Eve Carson embodied a lot about what was really great about the University,” said Clarke, an English major from Fairview.

De La Rosa, a mathematics and economics major from Raleigh, said in an e-mail that Carson’s legacy stretches from volunteer events to student discussions.

“I see the legacy of Eve Carson living out on campus every day,” he said.

The scholarship funds half the cost of attendance of the students’ senior years, plus $5,000 each for a summer enrichment experience.

Clarke, who helped start the Carolina Campus Community Garden, said he hopes to focus on the garden over the summer instead of holding a job.

“I think I will definitely grow but I think the growth will occur because of the time I’ll be allowed to spend in the community with people and in the garden,” Clarke said.

De La Rosa said he hopes to travel abroad to promote economic development.

“Hopefully, I can use it as a launching pad to further my understanding of micro-finance and micro-credit initiatives globally,” he said.

Recipients of the scholarship must show that they have found their passion and used it to give back to the community.

Christina Lynch, outreach director of the Eve Carson Scholarship executive committee, said it’s clear that Carson’s legacy continues because so many worthy people apply for the scholarship each year.

“It means that it’s not just going to stop when Eve’s not on campus or people aren’t on campus that knew her,” she said.

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.

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