Family and friends of Paul Badro gathered in the UT Chapel Tuesday morning to celebrate his life.
Badro, a UT senior marketing major, died on Feb. 16 in a fatal motorcycle accident. Relatives and friends traveled from Bahrain, where Badro lived, to attend the memorial.
Dean of Students Stephanie Russell-Krebs started by thanking the Badro family for sending Paul to UT because he was an active member of the community.
“He was the person you wanted working on a group project, he was the person you wanted living in your hall,” Russell-Krebs said. “Every single memory and story that I am hearing is all about Paul being such a connector for our community.”
She also challenged students to “take Paul with you” through everyday life.
“Take him with you when you notice that beautiful car outside. Stop and look at it and wonder what type of engine it is,” said Russell-Krebs, noting Badro’s love for cars. “Take him with you when you haven’t called your mom and dad in a while. Call them and take him with you.”
Badro’s friends talked about the times they shared living in McKay Hall freshman year with him. They mentioned how friendly he was to everyone, not just to close friends.
“Paul taught me so many things about myself, other cultures, and a place I never even heard of,” said a friend who lived in the McKay community with him. The friend, who did not want to be named, then read a poem entitled “Goodbye My Dearest Friend.”
“The thing about Paul, everyone’s going to tell you he was a great man or a happy guy who brought so many things to people’s lives, but the best word is wise,” said Neill Lashkajani, a UT alumni, who knew Paul from when they lived on the same floor in McKay. “The little things didn’t upset him. He was an inspiration.”
Many people commented on the transformation he made, becoming more fit during his time here and about how he started going to the gym to workout.
George DaPonte, director of International Admissions at UT, shared some of Badro’s admission essay, which was about his family, and called reading it one of the most “difficult but beautiful things I can do for you.”
Badro started his essay off by saying, “I love my father.”
Badro’s father sent out a message to the students about the dangers of fast driving: “Don’t break the hearts of your parents. Please.”
After the ceremony, visitors watched a video compiled and made by Badro’s friends who could not be at the ceremony describing memories they had with him and sent condolences to the family. Many of his friends in the video commented on the transformation they saw while Badro was at UT and said how they missed him.
After the video, visitors were welcomed to throw a white rose into the Hillsborough River near McKay, one of Badro’s favorite places on campus, in memorial of him.
At the end of the ceremony, Russell-Krebs described how even though Badro was supposed to graduate in May, he wanted to delay his graduation.
“He would have been graduating in a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing. While he can’t physically be with us on graduation day we know he’ll be with us in spirit,” Russell-Krebs said. On behalf of the University of Tampa community, it is with great honor that we notify everyone that the University of Tampa has rewarded Paul Phillip Badro a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing in his memoriam based on the recommendation of the department of marketing and the dean of the Sykes College of Business.”
Russell-Krebs invited the family to come to the commencement ceremony and for his father to accept the degree on his behalf.
Mark Sugden can be reached at mark.sugden@spartans.ut.edu
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