For several minutes after last night’s candlelight vigil commemorating Khalil King ’13 — whose body was found in Fall Creek Gorge Sunday afternoon — none of the several hundred people lining Ho Plaza were ready to leave. Director of Cornell United Works Ken Clarke came out and thanked everyone for coming, and still the crowd remained motionless, frozen by the moment.

Then King’s mother came out and spoke of her son: “my pride, my joy, my reason for breathing.”

King’s mom affirmed what many of King’s friends had noted throughout the evening, that King was “a little quirky” — a trait she said King inherited from her — and that “anything Khalil said is ‘mine to do’ he went and did just that.”

King’s mom said that “a lot of questions are still not answered,” and that she “will never be satisfied until those questions are answered” by either “something from the Cornell community” or from the “divine hand of God.” 

She ended by saying that her son will “be in your hearts” and thanked everyone for coming. After she spoke, the crowd slowly thinned out.

Throughout the night, filled with poems, letters and songs for King, a picture of him emerged as a gregarious, multi-talented thinker and doer, willing to cross the lines of social convention.

Ujijji Davis ’12 read a poem she wrote for King, calling him a “shadow of colors clashing and thrashing” in a “sea of white, beige and bland.”

“Every seat you ever contemplated was your throne,” Davis said. “I pray you found diamonds where you fell … [It was] a blessing to know our goodbyes were smiles and that you are still walking.”

Prior to the vigil, King’s friends Will Gent ’13 and Shane Seppinni ’13 recalled their fond memories of King. “He would do anything for you at the drop of a dime,” Seppinni said.

“I’d always order food with him and he’d always say ‘I’ll pay you back,’” but never did, Seppinni said with a smile.

King’s best quote was “Alright, here I come,” Gent said. Gent remembered a self-portrait King, whom he described as an “amazing artist,” had made, with a landscape of Ithaca appearing in the self-portrait’s eye.

Felema Yemane ’14 recalled going to different places with King, including the Cornell Democrats, Cornell Republicans and a socialist organization, and recalled a time when the two spent “three hours discussing abortion” in Willard Straight Hall. King was “open to other people’s ideas and thoughts,” Yemane said.

Monday night, Yemane spoke to the crowd gathered outside the building where she and King had had that discussion. Yemane recalled how King — who had recently transferred from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to the College of Architecture, Art and Planning — would, before he had transferred, “bother us” with suggestions “like he was Frank Gehry.”

She called King her “first friend, and first Facebook friend, at Cornell,” describing his personality as “so magnetic.”

King’s friend Bashir Alhadi ’13 came onstage and pointed out his shoes: Air Jordan Retro 60s.  He said he and King “used to go back and forth on who had them first,” but admitted that King had been right all along.

He also discussed how King encouraged Alhadi to not be shy about reading his poetry, and Alhadi read a poem in honor of his friend. “I miss you so much, dude,” he said.

Many students who did not know King but wanted to show their support also attended the vigil.  “He could’ve been my best friend; I’ll honor him like he was,” said one male student who requested anonymity.

Vice President Susan Murphy ’73 also spoke at the event, saying that the “best tribute we can give Khalil is to build those bridges across the communities he touched.” 

She urged the crowd to “make sure you’re here for one another,” while admitting the difficulty of “trying to understand something that makes no sense.”