INSTITUTE, W.Va. — West Virginia State University President Ericke Cage says the recent fatal shooting of one the school’s football players is a tragic reminder that life is precious and unpredictable, and it’s important to live each day with purpose.
WVSU carried on with the scheduled home opener football game Friday against Tennessee’s Carson-Newman College after it was postponed Thursday following the murder of senior linebacker Jyilek Harrington.
Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina was killed in a fatal shooting Wednesday night on Charleston’s Regency Drive off Corridor G.
Cage said since that time, the school has been making much effort to reach out to students in the wake of the tragedy.
Jyilek Harrington
“Our immediate response has been focused on healing,” Cage said. “We’re trying to make sure our student athletes, particularly our football players have the counseling they need to get through this very tragic moment.”
Ironically, Harrington had transferred to WVSU from Carson-Newman. This prompted both teams to hold a vigil for Harrington Thursday night in place of the game.
Cage said in addition to reaching out to students, he had also reached out to Harrington’s mother to express his condolences to her.
He said it’s a time for the university to come together and help one another.
“I also underscored to her and to the members of our football team that the university is here for them, we are standing behind them, we are providing all of the support they need to begin the grieving process and at some point to begin looking toward the future,” he said.
Jayde Baron was Jyliek’s girlfriend at the time. She said Jyliek left a positive impact on most everyone he ever came in contact with.
“He always knew how to make anybody and everybody smile, he had a smile on his face no matter what the circumstances were,” she said.
Baron went on to say that football was Harrington’s true passion and he was aiming high with his career in the sport.
“His favorite thing to do was play the game, he was always on the game, and he just loved playing football, that was his goal, and his goal was to go all-American and all Conference this year,” Baron said.
Cage said the tragedy occurred off-campus, but they feel very confident in the security on campus if threats of violence of any kind were to occur.
“We don’t believe there is any immediate threat to our campus, we have confidence in our university police department, and we feel that students in our community are safe,” Cage said.