*Correction: The original article published contained sourcing and fact errors. The article has been revised. The Daily Orange regrets these errors.

Shannon Kane, a Syracuse University alumna, died Monday morning when she was involved in an eight- car accident on Interstate 75 in North Marion County, Fla. She was 22.

Kane was a music education major at SU where she graduated magna cum laude and was also the student speaker for the School of Visual and Performing Arts Convocation in 2008.

She was attending graduate school at the University of Florida, working toward a master’s degree in instrumental wind conducting and working as a graduate assistant.

Dianna Hnatiw remembers meeting Kane, who was her roommate of two years, while they were both still in high school and auditioning for a spot in the Setnor School of Music at SU.

‘She was so friendly and really polite and nice,’ Hnatiw said. ‘It’s funny that we ended up being roommates for two years because she was the first person I met.’

Her closest friends remember Kane as being a positive and cheerful person who never hesitated to help out someone in need.

‘She was very supportive of her classmates, and was basically an embodiment of doing good,’ said John Coggiola, the director of music education at SU. ‘The most tragic thing is when I think about all the people that she could’ve helped. All the lives that she could’ve touched.’

Hnatiw said one of her fondest memories of Kane was spending time watching ‘Emma,’ a movie based on the Jane Austen novel, which she said they were both obsessed with. But overall, Hnatiw said she can’t think of just one clear fond memory of Kane.

‘Every moment with her was a fond memory for me,’ Hnatiw said.

Hnatiw and Coggiola both said they were constantly impressed with all she took on.

‘She was somebody who practiced humanity, she truly loved her friends and family,’ Coggiola said. ‘That is the hardest thing to accept because she was such a humanitarian.’

Kane participated in several groups on the SU campus including University 100 and the Lutheran Campus Ministry. Gail Riina, a pastor at the Lutheran Campus Ministry, said the things that stood out most about Kane were her smile and caring attitude, which was completely genuine.

The ministry plans to create a memorial scholarship in her honor which will soon be posted on the ministry Web page.

Hnatiw said Kane’s life makes her think about how she spends her time, because Kane was doing something at every moment of her life.

‘She accomplished a lot and lived a full life. She was on the way to being very successful,’ Hnatiw said. ‘But she already was really successful.’

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Published on February 19, 2009 at 12:00 pm