KINGSTON, R.I. -- July 21, 2003 -- The URI Alumni Association will name the Student Alumni Association office in its new center on Upper College Road in honor of a graduate who died in a porch collapse in Chicago early Sunday, June 29.

Eric Kumpf, 30, of Hoboken, N.J. a 1994 URI graduate, was one of a dozen young people who died in the collapse. He was standing on the second-floor back porch of an apartment building when the third-floor porch gave away.

While a student at URI, Kumpf was an active member of the Student Alumni Association, a tour guide for the Admissions Office, an orientation leader, and an enthusiastic basketball fan. He graduated with a degree in journalism, and a minor in political science.

"We thought naming the Student Alumni Association office in his honor would be a fitting way to memorialize an extraordinary young man," said Michele Nota, executive director of the URI Alumni Association.

"Eric maintained strong ties with the University family and will always be remembered as a committed student, and an easygoing, warm and fun-loving person," added Nota. "Since the new Center is being designed as a place where we can welcome our alumni home and celebrate their achievements, Eric will always be a part of that tribute. He was one of those exceptional people, devoted to his alma mater. He will be missed."

The new and first URI Alumni Center is expected to be completed by the fall of 2004.

Following graduation, Kumpf was an admissions officer who recruited heavily in New Jersey. He supported the University as the youngest alumnus to donate to the Convocation Center Campaign (to build the Ryan Center) at the leadership level and was a leadership donor to the URI Annual Fund. He was a member of the Northern New Jersey URI Alumni Chapter and a member of the 2001 Watson Council.

Recently promoted, he was a director at Barclays Bank PLC, New York, N.Y. Kumpf was working at the Barclays office at 222 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, two blocks away from the World Trade Center, on Sept. 11, 2001. His office was relocated after the attack.

He and his fiancée, Alexis Brady, a 1996 URI graduate, planned to marry on Sept. 27 at Castle Hill in Newport, RI.

He was one of three sons of New Jersey Superior Court Judge Fred H. Kumpf.