Caitlin Hammaren

Caitlin Hammaren’s family and friends remember her as an amazing daughter, sister, resident advisor, and person.
 
“Caitlin had a way to make everyone feel as if they were her best friend,” said friend and suitemate Rochelle Low in an e-mail interview. “She was always there for you whenever you needed her, and had a smile and laugh that were contagious under any circumstance.”

Originally from New York, Hammaren decided to become a Hokie after learning of the previous positive experiences of a close family friend.

“Her family really wanted her to get out of New York; something different, go somewhere safe, ironically,” said Liz McLendon, Hammaren’s big sister in the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

“She was just one of the most outstanding individuals that I’ve had the privilege of working with in my 31 years as an educator,” said John P. Latini, Principal of Minisink Valley High School, to Time magazine.

During her high school years, Caitlin enjoyed riding her horse, Poet, and was the president of her school choir. It was her love of singing that inspired her to join a choir her freshman year at Virginia Tech. She also took on many leadership and service positions in the community, including her involvement with her sorority, and her decision to become a resident advisor.

Low describes Caitlin’s decision to become an R.A., as an obvious one to all who knew her.

“Caitlin decided to become an R.A. after seeing what a difference our R.A. made in the dorm the previous year,” Low said. “Caitlin wanted to be close to everyone in the building and make them feel like they could come to her for anything, anytime, and they always did.”

Kelsey Hawes, freshman suitemate, described Caitlin as someone who cared for her residence hall.

“She always put others before herself and would hold off on her homework or her priorities and obligations to help somebody else,” Hawes
said.

Her service to the resident life community is evident through the dedication she showed toward her position as an R.A.

“She did special programs every Thursday night with another RA called Finding Flavor in Peddrew-Yates,” McClendon said. “They did all different types of things just for anybody who wanted to come. One time they made ice cream out of liquid
nitrogen, sometimes it was just bringing in a picture from home and talking about it and just sharing stories”

Caitlin enjoyed spending time with her residents and friends. Her enthusiasm for life was evident, and television classics such as ‘I Love Lucy’ or ‘The Pink Panther’ could always be heard blasting from her room. During the holidays she embraced
singing and dancing to N’SYNC Christmas music and Mariah Carey’s, “All I want for Christmas is you.”

The dedication Caitlin showed toward community involvement carried over into her passion for success in school. She had recently decided to add a French major, in addition to her major in interdisciplinary studies and her minor in social change. Caitlin also showed interest in the
possibility of attending law school after graduation.

“She could have done pretty much anything,” McClendon said.

Caitlin was a fun-loving girl with a passion for family, friends and getting the most out of life. Her energy was contagious to all who knew her, and her love for humanity and making people happy was infectious. Caitlin was very close with her family, as experienced by Low, who went home with Caitlin over Thanksgiving break this past
year.

“We spent half of the break making cookies, shopping, decorating chocolate, and spending time with her family. It was one of the best times of my life, and I will never forget her family and their traditions and love for Caitlin,” Low said.