Cornell Honors Douglas Lowe ’11

Yesterday evening, family members, friends and peers gathered at the Chapel at Anabel Taylor to pay tribute to Douglas Lowe ’11, who died tragically this past summer while swimming in Fall Creek Gorge.

This summer he was enrolled in a three-week summer class. On June 12, while swimming at Fall Creek gorge, he slid off a smooth rock and was caught in a swirling pool of water. He was pronounced dead and his body was recovered that same day.

Lowe — a Jackie Robinson Scholar and a Cornell Tradition Fellow — was accepted to Cornell when he was 16. He dedicated most of his free time to volunteer work, jazz and dancing.

“There is nothing more devastating than the loss of a child,” said Susan Murphy ’73, vice president of student and academic services.

Murphy spoke of Lowe’s love of “giving back to his community,” and his reliance on positive mentoring relationship. She went on to quote a piece Lowe had written in which he described his passion for his work at a nursery. [1]In memoriam: Friends, family and fellow students remember Douglas Lowe at a memorial service at the Anabel Taylor Chapel yesterday.

“I think I am able to communicate with children in the way that they can understand,” she read.

Murphy concluded by saying, “time may ease the pain [of losing Lowe] … but it would never take it all away … Hold fast to your dreams, Doug lived a life full of dreams.”

Prof. Jeff Cowie, industrial and labor relations, enthusiastically spoke about many moments he spent with Lowe. Cowie emphasized that their “point of connection was music; he played, I listened.”

To Cowie, Lowe’s death was only comparable to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in the eyes of Robert Kennedy.

Paul Lowe, Jr., Lowe’s brother, performed two pieces of Jazz compositions he ascribed to his late brother. The two were members of a jazz group they had formed called Young Jazee Vibes.

Kyle Barron ’11 described his former roommate as “the kind of person who would just stay up to keep me company [at 2 a.m.]” Barron emphasized that Lowe, his roommate that he met during Cornell Days, always went “out of his way” to help others.

One person after another spoke of the kindness, selflessness and great sense of humor that Lowe exemplified.

In an attempt to further promote the ideals that Lowe subscribed to, his parents have established a scholarship fund named the Douglas Arthur Lowe Prism for Beauty on Earth (DALPBE). Barron and Lauren Gluck ’11, a friend of Lowe’s, have been named the fund’s vice president and volunteer coordinator respectively.

At the memorial — organized by the Black Students United, Cornell Caribbean Students Association Dance Ensemble and ILR Office of Student Services Members of the Cornell — the Caribbean Students Dance Ensemble performed a short performance to pay tribute to the person they described as “the most eager student in the group… [and] the one who always brought a positive outlook [to others].”

At the service’s conclusion, Paul Lowe, Sr., highlighted his son’s passion for classes, love of friends and obsession with Cornell University.

When asked what he thought of school, Lowe told his father, “I’m having a great time with friends and classes at Cornell.”