Friends: "Kevser was passionate about life"

Kevsar Ermin first came to Oxford from Eskisehir, Turkey, while her sister was working with the University of Mississippi. The visits she made to the campus helped convince her to come to the university to study.
Ermin first started with the intensive English program before getting her master’s degree in exercise science. Ermin was working on getting her doctorate in nutrition and kinesiology at the time of her death Friday, following an accident with a vehicle while riding her bicycle.
From the moment she stepped on campus, Ermin had an effect on other people’s lives.
While in Oxford, she met her husband, Yavuz, and many of her close friends.
Nadia Kholomeydik said she met Ermin about five years ago, when the two were part of the International Ladies Club.
“We also became part of the diversity group’s international volleyball team,” Kholomeydik said. “She was a very strong, important part of the girls team and she helped us to win the intramural championship two years ago.
“She was pretty much a part of my family here.”
Shilpa Shirur said she first met Ermin back in 2009, but the two became closer this past year.
“We were very good friends, like sisters,” Shirur said. “Me, her and another friend, Maha –– we would meet every week on Thursday on the Square. We would hang out and look forward to that day every week.”
Sam Hammoud said the loss of Ermin has been hard on him and the community.
“We took road trips together as friends, she came to our house parties, and she was good friend,” he said.
Shirur said Ermin was passionate about many things, but most of all, being healthy.
“We would go for sushi every Thursday; we would never miss out on that,” Shirur said. “She had to eat a fried sushi roll that she loved and because of the calories, she would go biking before and after eating with me. Then come eat sushi with me, and while eating we would talk about how I would lose weight.”
Among Ermin’s other passions was research.
“We were in the same research class for a couple of semesters,” Kholomeydik said. “She was so bright. I remember turning to her for help not just once, because the subject for me is pretty tough, but for her it was pretty easy.”
Hammoud said she was often sought after for help by classmates.
“She was a very brilliant student, an A student,” he said. “She was always on top of her class.”
Shirur said Ermin was studying the effects of obesity in Mississippi and working with teenage girls and bone density.
“She won an award for her research on bone density,” Shirur said. “She did a lot of work in the department; they called her the star-performer.”
Hammoud said among Ermin’s other passions were family, friends and life in general.
“She was a very emotional person when it comes to loving everyone and making sure everyone is happy,” he said. “She had a great personality, and she was a very good member of the community, helping with the kids in the community with exercising and trying put them in the right health in terms of eating.”
“Kevsar was the ideal hardworking student,” said Brenda Hales, an intensive English instructor. “She was a pleasure to teach in class and know outside of class.”
Hales said she hosted Ermin in her home, introduced her to her family and spent time riding horses with her.
“(Ermin) was so excited to meet new people and experience the American life,” Hales said. “She set life goals and was on her way to achieving all of them. She lived each day to the fullest; there are few women in the world like her, and she will be dearly missed by everyone who had the opportunity to know her.”
Rebecca Morgan, a staff assistant in the intensive English program, was one of the first people to recruit Ermin to Ole Miss.
“I feel so fortunate to have known Kevsar and be able to sit by and watch her and her overabundance of determination and enthusiasm,” Morgan said. “Oxford and Ole Miss are where she wanted to be, we were her new home and she fully embraced us, touching so many of our lives not just on campus but in the community as well. The shock of her untimely death and the loss that I feel has left me as well as all who knew her, filled with grief.”
Shirur said she was supposed to meet Ermin for lunch the day that she was hit, but Ermin cancelled to ride her bike. They had rescheduled for a later time.
Kholomeydik was the first to know about Ermin’s death. She said she tried to tell everyone that knew Ermin.
“I did what I knew I could,” she said.
“It was quite hard and emotional to be able to reconfirm this news and talk to everybody, but I’m glad that, I was there to be doing that and I’m glad that it wasn’t Shilpa or Maha becase they have been the closest (with her) in the recent times.”
Shirur said she was in class, and when she saw Nadia’s text she immediately thought it had to be wrong.
“I called Nadia and I said, ‘Nadia, whoever told you this, it’s not true,’” Shirur said. “(Nadia) said that she had confirmed it with the office.”
Shirur said she kept calling Ermin’s phone hoping for her to answer, but the other end never picked up.
“It was hard,” she said. “I was in denial, I think.”
Hammoud said he was at work when he first heard of his friend’s death.
“I get this text message saying, ‘Sam, Kevser is dead’ and at that point all I said was, ‘No, no, no, no,’” he said. “My boss asked me if I was alright, and I said my friend is dead, I have to go.”
Hammoud said he went straight to Kholomeydik to get all of their friends together for support.
Hammoud said one of the biggest shocks was that Ermin’s death happened at the end of the campus-promoted Share the Road week.
“This was a big impact and maybe that will raise more awareness to the drivers, and to the city to enhance the bike routes in Oxford,” he said.
Mariel Parman, associated student body director of sustainablitiy and one of the supporters of Share the Road week, commented on Ermin’s death via Facebook at the end of this past week.  
“I’m very sad to see this week end with the death of a cyclist,” Parman said. “However, the only semi-positive I can see from this is that I hope this brings even more awareness to people about sharing the road. We can all do our part to keep each other safe and prevent more deaths from happening.”
Kholomeydik said the road where Ermin was hit is considered to be a bicycle-friendly route to Sardis Lake, but that it does not appear to be developed for cyclists.
“It’s not very safe for anybody to use, though a lot of international people and others who live in some of those places are using that road,” Kholomeydik said. “It’s not safe at all, and I’m hoping that maybe since that accident happened on that very road at least they will start some development plans.”
Shirur said she hopes Ermin’s death is not wasted.
“We want to create the awareness about sharing the road and being a safe driver,” she said.
Hammoud said it was the wish of Ermin’s family that the part of the road where she was hit be dedicated in her honor.
“Kevser was not just riding a bike for fun, she was doing her daily routine, exercising, riding her bike,” he said.
“We are sure going to miss her deeply; she will always be in our hearts as a friend, a sister and as a teammate.”