Death is an awkward thing. We know its inevitability. Many of us have faith that it is merely a new beginning, a time to rejoice. Yet despite humanity’s generations of experience at death’s mercy, it still wields the power to bring the mighty to their knees, to mist the eyes of the stoic, to strike mute even the most loquacious. And while many of us were studying for spring finals last month, that power was felt with the loss of one of N.C. State’s own: former student body president Jenny Chang-McCoy. The Student Government’s SBP from 1998 to 1999, Jenny’s academic and professional accomplishments are too numerous to be done justice here. She was dedicated to public service, one of NCSU’s first Park Scholars, a Truman scholar, the 1999-2000 senior class president — the list goes on and on. But above all, Jenny was a friend and mentor to nearly everyone she met. I first crossed paths with Jenny in summer 1998 at freshman orientation. The Witherspoon Student Center was holding the “annual information fair for student organizations” (now the much easier “Aware-Wolf”), and I slipped away from my grandparents’ pre-planned route to Talley so I could see what was going on. Having just been elected student body president that past April, Jenny was there as the “sales rep” for Student Government. Now I’ll admit up front, I was a cocky freshman. I didn’t know exactly what I was planning on doing in college — but whatever it was, Student Government wasn’t it. So when Jenny motioned me to the SG table I headed over because I didn’t want to be rude, and at some point in our conversation planned to confess that Student Government didn’t really interest me…except the words didn’t come out anything close to what I had intended, sounding less like a simple “no thanks” and more like a repudiation of Student Government itself (I can only imagine what my face looked like when I realized how it sounded). Sure that I had just thoroughly offended the SG president, I quickly apologized, grabbed my stuff and tried making a beeline for the door. But instead of getting mad at some impudent kid, Jenny stopped me to ask how I got that particular opinion, then patiently explained why I was misinformed. And by the time I left Witherspoon that afternoon, I had been convinced to not only join the Student Government’s “Wolf Aides” leadership program and the Student Senate, but to also try getting others involved too. There’s no telling how many new freshmen Jenny talked with that week, or how many times she had to dispel somebody’s silly misconceptions about the organization she represented. I learned later in the year that the patience and persuasiveness on display at that info fair were part of her personality, along with a disarming perma-smile that came with them (capable even of escaping a traffic ticket after getting pulled over for going well in excess of 100 mph on the interstate.) Even amid the stresses that surely must have came with her position, her classes, her life in general, Jenny always reached out to make sure everyone felt included, to encourage others to step up and lead alongside her. For this year’s new crop of Student Government officials — many too young to have known her personally — Jenny is remembered for her devotion to student issues, her love of public service, and her steadfast battle against breast cancer. To so many more she is also remembered as a daughter, a sister, a loving wife and a very dear friend. But scattered across our University community over the years, some probably unknown even to Jenny herself, are also dozens of students she touched and influenced without realizing it. That ability, for one solitary person to positively affect the lives of so many others even without trying to do so, is the hallmark of a true leader. And it will stand as Jenny Chang’s greatest legacy.
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On behalf of everyone here at Technician , our heartfelt condolences go out to Jenny’s family, her husband Dominique McCoy, and everyone who ever knew Jenny as a mentor, colleague or friend. She will be missed, but her spirit lives on.
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Send your comments to Greg at [email protected] or to the Campus Forum at [email protected].
