I have asked several of my friends if they recognized the name Michael Kerr. Not a single person did.
A few people may remember Kerr as the 57-year-old construction worker from Indiana who died tragically Friday when he was hit by a 70-pound beam while working on the new Music and Communication Building on the lakefront.
However, it is doubtful that anyone at Northwestern knows Michael Kerr as the loving partner of Mary Tarne, father of three children and grandfather of three more. He was a brother, uncle, cousin, great friend and one of the Blackhawks’ biggest fans.
“Mike Kerr could do it all!” reads a post to the guestbook on his legacy.com obituary page. “From erecting a skyscraper, to building an ocean racer, to being a loving father and family man. His humor was priceless and his zest for life was unmatched! He graced this earth and made it a better place.”
Another entry reads, “Mike was one of the nicest guys we have ever known. We have known Mike for almost 25 years and every time we saw him he had a smile and a hug.”
However, according to the University, he is nothing but an anonymous construction worker whose memory is not worth so much as a passing mention.
This is a new low for NU in responding to a tragedy in our community. Michael Kerr’s life ended due to an accident on our campus. What have we given him for tragically laying down his life to help build our facilities? Nothing. No prayer ceremony at The Rock, no moment of silence, no gesture of support to his family, not so much as an email announcement informing students of his death.
The only public response I could find to Kerr’s death was an email sent by University spokesman Al Cubbage in response to an inquiry from The Daily, indicating that the death was an accident and that the school “extends its sympathy to his family and fellow workers.”
It might as well have said, “Let’s hurry up and put this guy in the ground so everyone forgets about this poorly timed incident and we can keep building! Oh by the way, did I mention that the class of 2017 is the most diverse in Northwestern’s history?”
NU’s administration has done its best to turn Michael Kerr into another faceless and nameless employee, his death little more than a blip on the radar of an otherwise exciting construction project. It is our job as journalists to erase this marginalization and portray Kerr as the dynamic and caring person that he no doubt was. He deserves to be defined in our collective psyches by his vivacious life, not his unfortunate and untimely death.
The rationale behind the University’s lack of response is not necessarily sinister. Perhaps we as a community have reached our absolute threshold of bearable grief in the wake of this year’s tragic deaths. We can’t fathom the thought of sitting through another tear-filled eulogy or candlelit vigil, no matter how necessary it may be.
In the wake of tragedy, we try to make sense of our heartbreak, to find reason among the hopelessly irrational circumstances surrounding a catastrophe. But sometimes, there is no suitable explanation, nothing to help us rationalize our sorrow. Sometimes God needs another builder for his columns in heaven, and he summons the best man for the job.
I hope to be the first of many to extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to Kerr’s family and my utmost thanks for his service to our university. And I humbly ask that my fellow Wildcats please keep Michael Kerr, his family and everyone we have lost this year in our thoughts and prayers as we finish out the quarter.
Mike Mallazzo is a Medill junior. He can be reached at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this letter, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected].
