“Sean Strong” was painted to honor Sean Egan, raising awareness to his legacy
Sean Egan was light.
Despite battling cancer three times, his loved ones were in awe of his positivity and unwavering determination during his battles; his spirit was radiant. However, his long-lasting fight came to an end when he passed away at 21 years old on April 23.
Egan’s passing was grieved with heavy hearts across his community, but overpowering that grief was the powerful intent on honoring Egan’s legacy. The same night he died, his community gathered to paint the Rock on Michigan State University’s campus in Egan’s honor.
Computer science senior Lauren Funk, Egan’s girlfriend, organized the Rock painting.
“I think that it was just a great way to get people to stop and look at it, remember his name and remember how strong he was,” Funk said. “That’s why we wrote ‘Sean Strong’ because truly throughout his entire battle he was such a warrior. He always kept a very positive attitude, and was so set on getting back on his feet, getting back up to school.”
Management senior George Farrington, one of Egan’s fraternity brothers at Sigma Alpha Epsilon, described the large turnout and the power of the event. He hadn’t seen so many people at the Rock since the MSU shooting.
“It really was amazing,” Farrington said. “Everybody was smiling, having fun and laughing the entire time. It was really a sad time, but everyone stayed very happy because everyone knew that Sean would want us to be smiling and having fun and laughing.”
The first words that came to Funk and Farrington’s minds when describing the person Egan was were “positivity” and “fighter.”
