I first met Mike in August 2008 at the beginning of the Washington Semester Program in DC.  As so many others have mentioned, I was immediately impressed with his intelligence, wit, and humor.  He came to be one of my closest friends during that semester.  Growing up poor in the South, I had some unique perspectives to bring to the table but, on the whole, I was woefully ignorant of the world outside my home. I will always remember Mike as being among the first people I had ever met who broke down my perceptions and stereotypes of what it meant to be a straight white male.  Being gay, I had built up a certain sterotype of what it meant to be a straight man. My perceptions made me believe I could never be friends with straight guys because we were just too different. Needless to say, I was missing out on a lot because of my insecurities.  To Mike, me being gay wasn't even a thing and it just blew my mind. I hadn't ever really met a straight guy who was just so unconcerned about it. (Some would tell you they aren't, but if you have even the slightest bit of perception, you can pick up on the queues that tell you otherwise.) Mike and I got to be really good friends and I'll always have him to thank for opening my eyes and knocking down some of my self-imposed barriers.

At the end of the semester, Mike invited me up to stay with him at his house for the weekend because I had never been to New York city but always wanted to go.  I took a bus up from DC and Mike met me in the city.  I didn't realize until later when we made the trek home how far out of the way he had gone to meet up with me! We ended up spending most of the weekend in Pearl River which to this day is the most of New York I've seen outside the City.  It was a great weekend! Mike was so generous to give up his time to take me out and show me around.  A few years later, I was able to return the favor when he visited me in DC and crashed at my place for the weekend.  I saw Mike one last time a couple of years ago in NYC when we met up for brunch at a Turkish restraunt. He was still pushing me outside my comfort zone to experience new things! We always picked up right where we left off. I was always fascniated to hear his opinion on current political affairs. He really had such a keen intellect. (This reminds me that Mike was the one who won our class competition when we predicted the makeup of Congress after the 2008 elections. He was the closest out of 30+ people!)


MIke, I miss you already buddy. I took you for granted because I thought you were always going to be there.  You were one of those rare connections that people hang on to because they know you're going places.  The world suffered a tremendous loss this week and our society is worse for it. I'll see you on the next trip around my friend!  

I don't know if this qualifies as a 'story' exactly, but I had a karaoke birthday party a few years ago at which Mike and Greg dueted on the 90's grunge ballad "Hunger Strike" by Temple of the Dog.  Before they started, Greg mentioned that Mike had been looking forward to singing that song all week.  And Mike's face showed that he was obviously excited at the beginning of the song.  But like a lot of grunge songs, "Hunger Strike" is a little long for karaoke, and it's very repetitive, and by the end they were both pretty tired of singing it and giggling at how long it'd gone.  I still crack up when thinking about Mike's "I've made a mistake" face about that song by the end of the performance.  Temple of the Dog was a supergroup formed to memorialize a musician friend of the band's who had passed away, and so in turn I'm sharing this story to memorialize Mike.  RIP to a great friend.

The song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUb450Alpps 

I first met Mike in 2009, when the myself and five other McGill student union executives hired him to run student union elections as the Chief Electoral Officer. Mike was a political campaign junkie and was passionate about running fair elections for McGill students - he was a shoo in for the position.

In the fall, we had to hold a by-election for Clubs and Services Representatives to student council, and Mike helped me run the in-person voting process. One student council member was trying to bend the procedures to benefit the candidate he supported and repeatedly accused Mike and I of electoral improprieties, including demanding we count the paper ballots in front of him. As Mike and this students' exchanges became more heated, he demanded of Mike: "Be reasonable for once!" While Mike was often unreasonable, this was not one of those times, and we often laughed at those words.

Mike quickly became a friend beyond his official role, and Ivan, Mike, and I could often be found chatting in Ivan's presidential office or sharing a pitcher in Gerts, the student union bar. Mike was smart, outspoken, and of course, hilarious. We often discussed politics at McGill and in the US broadly. He cared deeply about how everyday people would be helped or harmed by a candidate or issue, and would never hesitate to share his opinion in blunt terms.

The following spring, Mike was responsible for running the elections for student executive positions - the (comparatively) big one for McGill students. The campaign for student union President was wild -  one candidate accused another candidate of sending "thugs" to assault him, another candidate's racist photo surfaced...I will let the student newspaper explain: http://www.mcgilldaily.com/2010/03/ssmu_elections_turn_aggressive/

Despite byzantine electoral by-laws and unbelievably aggressive campaigning, Mike stepped up far beyond the call of his position to ensure violations were sanctioned and all candidates were treated fairly. At the height of the campaign, he was stress vommitting because he was so anxious about the campaign! However he did an incredible job ensuring a fair campaign and even got to be quoted in the student newspaper saying classic political quotes like, "She’s run a really clean campaign so far."

I am so glad we hired Mike as the Chief Electoral Officer - not only was he excellent in and passionate about the role, but it is how Mike and I became friends.