BALTIMORE — The Community College of Baltimore County hosted a candlelight vigil to honor the life of graduate Andrea Rodriguez Avila, who was shot to death on August 26 in her dorm room at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Rodriguez Avila, a 2023 graduate of CCBC, transferred to Rice last spring to study political science with dreams of working for the United Nations.
On Tuesday, students, staff and family members gathered near the Romadka College Center to share memories of the 21-year-old college student.
While at CCBC, Rodriguez Avila was president of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society and a First-Year Experience Mentor.
“The First-Year Experience team went back to what we call the Student Voice, which was her story that she told students and one of the key aspects of that story that really stuck out to me was that in the middle of a storm, it will not last forever,” CCBC Assistant Director of Student Engagement Lorrie Frederick said.