CSUSB holds memorial service for slain graduate student

The Cal State San Bernardino campus community gathered on Dec. 16 to honor the memory of Abhishek Sudhesh, a 25-year-old student from Mysuru, India, pursuing a master’s degree in computer science, who was killed off campus on Thanksgiving Day.
 
Sudhesh’s family and friends, as well as CSUSB faculty, staff and students, celebrated his life inside the university’s Santos Manuel Student Union Events Center, where CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales presented his family with a posthumous master’s degree.
 
“Whenever someone so young is taken, it is customary to mourn a life cut short,” Morales said. “I believe we should instead recall the achievements made and the blessings received during their brief time among us. Never judge a book’s value by its size, but rather by the story it tells.”
 
Morales also announced the creation of a scholarship fund in Sudhesh’s name, which will provide financial support for international students at CSUSB who are studying computer science or STEM.
 
“I want to take this moment to announce that the family, in partnership with Cal State San Bernardino and the CSUSB Philanthropic Foundation, have established The Abhishek Sudhesh Endowed Scholarship Fund,” Morales said. “We intend to grow the fund by inviting friends and the community to contribute, thereby increasing the number of international students who can receive support.”
 
During his remarks, Umesh Chand, Sudhesh’s uncle, said his family will contribute $1,000 annually to the scholarship fund. Chand described his nephew as “kind, empathetic and sincere.”
 
In addition to Morales and Chand, remarks were also made by Sam Sudhakar, vice president and chief information officer for ITS; Manorama Sinha, adviser of the Indian Student Association; and Sharon Tewadi and Deval Patel, friends of Sudhesh.
 
Tewadi, a fellow CSUSB student, described Sudhesh as “precious” and someone who was full of “dreams and hope,” recounting his desire for a sports car, which she said he was able to get this year.
 
“He was so happy about it,” she recalled.
 
Sudhesh was an exceptional student, earning a 3.778 overall GPA in his second year as a graduate student in computer science. He started graduate school in the spring of 2018 after moving to the United States last March.
 
He served as a teaching assistant for the College of Natural Sciences working closely with his program adviser, Ernesto Gomez. He was also involved with the CSUSB Indian Student Association and the larger Indian student community as well.
 

Umesh Chand, Abhishek Sudhesh’s uncle, speaks at his nephew's memorial.

CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales announced the creation of a scholarship fund in Sudhesh’s name, which will provide financial support for international students at CSUSB who are studying computer science or STEM.

CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales presented Abhishek Sudhesh’s family with a posthumous master’s degree.