Southern Illinois University campus mourns the loss of student at Travis Scott concert

This story first appeared in The Southern Illinoisan.

SIU campus was eerily quiet Monday night as students and staff shuffled into Faner Plaza — orange roses and candles in hand.

About 350 students, staff and administrators gathered near the fountain for the same purpose: To honor the memory of Jacob Jurinek, one of their own.

The third-year journalism student was one of eight people who died Friday at the Astroworld Music Festival. Jurinek died alongside his best friend, Franco Patino. He was just shy of his 21st birthday.

Jurinek is the third SIU student to die tragically this semester. The first was SIU freshman Keeshanna Jackson, who was shot and killed at a house party after the first week of classes. The second was Joe Ermel, an aviation student killed in a motorcycle crash. The campus is still grieving the loss of these students.

The only sounds in the plaza, aside from the occasional whispered conversation, were questions of “Are you alright?” and students comforting one another, before Emma Braning, a junior at SIU studying criminology and criminal justice, took the microphone.

Through tears, Braning described Jurinek as outgoing, passionate, and strong in what he believed in. She said he never said a negative thing about anyone.

“He had the biggest heart out of anyone I ever met,” Braning said.

Jurinek was born and raised in Naperville, where he and Patino played high school football together.

At SIU, Jurinek was a member of the Saluki Adlab where he pursued his passion for art and design.

On his personal art accounts on Instagram and the VSCO photography app, he showed his playfulness and a passion for music, out-of-the-box designs and social justice.

Following Jurinek’s death, the Saluki Adlab posted a statement on Facebook, saying, “He was a main character of our story. Thank you Jacob Jurinek for including us in yours. We will miss you, your creativity, and your friendship.”

Jurinek was known for his “endless jokes,” Mikaylan Roach, a classmate and work partner with Jurinek, said as part of a statement from the School of Journalism.

“Everyone is so heartbroken and in shock about this sudden loss in our community. I will miss his endless jokes and animated storytelling the most,” Roach said.

Jan Thompson, director of the School of Journalism, offered the school’s condolences.

“On behalf of our students, faculty and staff we are sending our deepest condolences to Jacob’s family and friends. His spirit, humor and commitment to always doing his best will be missed at the School of Journalism,” Thompson said.

According to published reports, many of the sell-out concert crowd of 50,000 surged toward the stage not long after the rapper Travis Scott appeared on stage, overwhelming security as well as trapping and crushing some in the audience.

According to reports from those in the crowd during the concert, Patino and Jurinek died trying to protect those around them from the surge.