The Johnsonian

Issue date: 2/13/08 Section: News

April Hilton's memorial service was Tuesday night.

Tameka Wilson couldn't thank her fellow students enough Tuesday night.

They had all come out to show their respect for her sorority sister, April Hilton, a junior music education and vocal performance major who died earlier this month.

Wilson, who is president of the Theta Theta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta, along with the rest of her sorority, organized the event.

Greek Life showed their support through cards and flowers, and the Chamber Ensemble filled Tillman Auditorium with voices of comfort. Friends, faculty and classmates watched and listened as people who knew Hilton best spilled memories and anecdotes about a student who made people laugh and feel good about themselves.

Hilton's roommate, junior music major Khadija Jenkins, shared a story at the memorial about their last conversation.

Hilton had brought her roommate food and a blanket because she was sick. She tucked Jenkins in and joked, "What would you do without me?"

It was unreal when Jenkins got the phone call that her roommate had passed, she said.

"There was never a time when I came home and needed someone to talk to and she wasn't there for me," Jenkins recalled. "I didn't think I could step in the apartment again, but she has made me stronger, along with so many others."

About half of Tillman Auditorium was filled with those others, including her Zeta Phi Beta sisters and affiliated brothers in Phi Beta Sigma.

"April would tell it like it was," said Shannon Grayson, a junior middle level education major who was initiated into Zeta Phi Beta with Hilton last spring. "She would tell it to her mama, she would tell it to the president of the United States. No matter what it was, she was real about it."

Another member of Hilton's intake class, Marlaina Alston, senior English major, added that Hilton was action-oriented and honest, with a smile that could light up a room.

"We were so much alike," Alston said. "We were both outspoken and had to agree to disagree sometimes, but we grew to love each other very much. She didn't sugarcoat anything."

Hilton's involvement in the sorority was intense. She was one of only five students initiated last Spring, and was chosen for her determination, leadership and academic excellence, president Wilson said.

Hilton went on to become the Theta Theta Chapter's historian and representative for the National Panhellenic Council. She took photographs at events, made scrapbooks and acted as a liaison between Zeta Phi Beta and all other sororities and fraternities on campus.

Continued...

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