Students, teachers, and administration officials gathered on November 19th in an emotional memorial and sharing of memories to mourn the loss of J. P. Goodwin, a friend to many, a journalist for The Mass Media and a pillar of the community.
Caroline Coscia, president of the Graduate Student Assembly (GSA), made the opening remarks, calling Mr. Goodwin “well known and well respected” and welcomed the opportunity to talk about his many accomplishments. Later, when it was her turn to speak, she praised Mr. Goodwin as a valued member of the GSA, one who “got us back on track” and “got us moving forward,” as well as citing him as the reason she became a member of the GSA.
Chancellor Jo Ann Gora referred to Mr. Goodwin as an “outstanding young man,” as she chose to read from a letter she wrote to Ms. Mildred Goodwin to express her condolences. Chancellor Gora felt Mr. Goodwin was “distinguishing characteristic of the university,” and ably displayed his journalistic skills when he broke the story of her appointment to the Chancellorship before the Boston Globe did.
Emily McDermott, acting dean of Graduate Studies, spoke next, highlighting Mr. Goodwin’s “unfailing civility” and “wonderful self-effacing kind of humour.” She described him as a journalist always “in search of the truth with a capital ‘T.'”
Judith Smith, the graduate program director of American Studies, stated his “allegiances were multiple to the Mass Media and the program.” His final project was the development of the press in coinciding with the government moving to Washington, D.C. “We can honor his memory by resisting superficiality and easy answers,” she said.
Michael Rhys, the editor-in-chief of The Mass Media, felt it was fitting that the memorial was held on a Monday, Production Day for the newspaper. Rhys told of Mr. Goodwin’s tendency to come in late– if it happened before noon it wasn’t news– was his motto. “He was a good friend of mine,” he said.
President of the undergraduate Student Senate, Joseph Panciotti spoke as well, saying “…we’ve all been blessed that we knew JP as well as we could,” going on to say that Mr. Goodwin had helped him prepare for his leadership role in the Senate by asking the hard questions, and giving him advice. President Panciotti said that Mr. Goodwin always said to “continue to go to church, continue to believe, and speak from your heart.”
During the open mic segment, Student Trustee Heather Dawood spoke, mentioning how Mr. Goodwin had spent the summer teaching middle school children about journalism, as well as his penchant for free food at events he was or wasn’t covering. “I know he’s with us ’cause there’s free food,” she said, smiling, referring to the food laid out in the back of the Wheatley Lounge. Student Senator Jesse Solomon spoke of Mr. Goodwin’s “wealth of knowledge in terms of strong ideas.” Mass Media writer Natalia Cooper said she wouldn’t be at the school if it weren’t for him, and couldn’t express how much she missed him. Donna Neal, assistant director of Student Life, remembered him as someone who “put his heart and soul into everything” and she recalled how they used to always argue about the Red Sox, and how “JP was forever the optimist.”
Mark Goodwin and his mother came as well. Mrs. Goodwin took to the podium, relaying stories of how he had always liked to write, and in elementary school, had pretended to be a peanut butter jelly sandwich.
The memorial wrapped up with a playing of the Beatles’s ‘Let It Be,’ and a reading of the 23rd Psalm.