Remembering Declan
Last Wednesday, Declan Sullivan, a junior at Notre Dame, tragically passed away when a scissor lift on which he was filming football practice toppled over in strong winds.
There’s not much left to be said on the subject, as many who knew him well have already memorialized him in the blogosphere. However, I need to be selfish right now and add my thoughts to the mix as I’m still trying to sort out my feelings after an emotional response to his memorial during the Tulsa pre-game, the alma mater at halftime, and the anger I felt as Tulsa’s band played over our own as we sang the alma mater one last time in honor of him during post-game this weekend.
I knew Declan briefly in my senior year at Saint Mary’s. He was a freshman at the time, and he was feeling out The Observer as a possible outlet for his creativity. Our editor-in-chief lived in his dorm and was trying to recruit him to the scene section, where he eventually lent us his unique and entertaining voice.
My first interaction with him actually had to do with Melissa Buddie’s “The hook-up culture” viewpoint letter, which has become infamous on campus. I was in a strange position with that situation as I knew Melissa and her older sister well and was trying to protect her and warn her about the response letters which were pouring in to the office. Declan’s was one of those.
I remember logging on to the Observer’s website one night in my dorm room ready to hit send on a call to Melissa when I found his response – “Hooking Up Normal.” I remember laughing as I read about the “Sassy z-snap” he would have given her had she told him the contents of her letter in person. And I was excited that for once someone was responding with humor and jest while most of the other responses vilified the hook-up culture and the fact that Melissa had to guts to call people out for how they were acting.
I was even more excited when I finally met Declan and saw that the humor in his letter captured his shining and bright personality.
Our paths crossed only briefly, but over the past few days I have been looking back on those few scene meetings and office encounters we had fondly. I always enjoyed opening the paper each day to the Scene section and finding his byline because I knew he’d be completely honest in his reviews, but he always tempered the opinion with his enthusiasm and wit.
My heart aches deeply for the entire Notre Dame community. For those who will never have the opportunity to be touched by Declan’s infectious smile, personality and writings. And especially for those who knew him better than I did.
I was blessed to have known him for the short time that I did.
Photo credit: AP photo/Michael Conroy
Liz Harter has a degree in English Writing with a minor in Spanish from Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Ind. She is an award winning journalist on the collegiate level with a strong background in journalism. She currently works in PR and is a social media autodidact Google+
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