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Dr. Elson S. Floyd's celebration of life ceremony will take place today at 3:00 p.m. inside of Beasley Coliseum. All members of the public are invited and encouraged to attend, and for those who can't, the event will be live streamed.
The doors open at 2:00 and seating is unassigned. The live stream can be found here. (EDIT: That link also will stream a replay of the event for you.)
It's been two months since one of the darkest days in WSU history, the passing of President Floyd on Jun. 20 after a battle with colon cancer. Just 15 days earlier, Floyd announced he was taking a medical leave of absence to treat his illness. When we woke up the morning of Jun. 20 and found out that Floyd has passed, it had felt like a personal friend had died because, well, that's exactly who Elson Floyd was.
As a current student, walking from class to class feels different without Floyd somewhere nearby. He genuinely cared about his students and their education, taking time to talk to student when he made an appearance on the Glenn-Terrell Mall or inside the CUB. During his tenure, he took an $100,000 pay cut, increased enrollment by 17 percent, and worked day and night during his illness to secure approval for a Washington State medical school to be built in Spokane.