Community holds vigil to honor life of UCLA student Brenda Coronel
Friends and sorority sisters of Brenda Coronel gathered outside the Student Activities Center on Monday to honor Coronel’s life. (Aubrey Yeo/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Jillian Frankel
May 5, 2015 12:17 a.m.
Fresh flowers, candles, hand-drawn portraits and Greek letters decorated an altar for UCLA student Brenda Coronel at a vigil Monday.
Coronel, who was from Salinas and studied political science, was killed in a car accident on April 26 on the 605 Freeway in Los Alamitos. She was 23 years old. Her friends described her as having a bright smile and a welcoming attitude toward strangers, which they said sparked her interest in community service.
Coronel’s sorority sisters from Sigma Delta Sigma filled the Community Programs Office on Monday alongside other students and co-workers who knew her from her community service efforts; the Leadership, Excellence, Accelerating Potential Foundation; and the Latin American Student Association.
Rocio Trujillo, who graduated in 2014, helped organize the vigil. She said Coronel was one of her best friends and that her hobbies included participating in multiple community service projects and reading.
“There was never a moment where she was sad,” Trujillo said. “Even if you told her a sad story, you’d end up cheered up.”
Coronel’s friends shared pan dulce and hot chocolate in a tightly packed room, hugging as they shared memories of Coronel while listening to songs from “Pitch Perfect,” one of her favorite movies.
“I was actually with her the night she passed,” said fourth-year geography/environmental studies student Lauren Mora, who knew Coronel through Sigma Delta Sigma. “She was always full of love and laughter and would bring a positive light into the room.”
Coronel’s friends said she was always able to bring a smile to people’s faces.
One of Coronel’s co-workers from the on-campus housing dispatch department said she and her cousin went to see “The Longest Ride” with Coronel recently.
“She was just crying the whole movie from start to finish, and we kept telling her, ‘You’re such a cheeseball!’” said Evelin Pelayo, a third-year anthropology student. “She was such a romantic.”
Jennifer Gonzalez, a 2014 UCLA alumna, said she remembers being comforted by Coronel in otherwise nerve-racking environments.
“We both felt some social anxiety, so we’d always link arms and walk into parties together,” Gonzalez said. “She’d hold me really tightly and tell me it was going to be okay.”
After the meeting and altar viewing, students lit candles on the steps of the Student Activities Center at sunset and watched a slideshow of pictures from Coronel’s life, including her time spent at UCLA.
