Roughly 210 students, alumni and community members gathered at McCasland Field House on Oct. 3 to remember Jordan Gandy through worship, shared memories and remarks from friends.
Gandy, 23, died on Oct. 1 surrounded by friends and family. Gandy, born in Dallas, earned a master's degree in accounting from OU in May and was deeply involved in OU’s chapter of InterVarsity Black Campus Ministries, which hosted the gathering.
Gandy served as outreach and evangelism chair of InterVarsity Black Campus Ministries and as a small group leader in the Henderson Scholars Program. He was also involved in the OU Black Student Association and OU Black Men in STEM, according to the groups' Instagram posts.
Troy Franklin Jr., a senior accounting major and president of InterVarsity Black Campus Ministries, said the evening was an act of worship in recognition of Gandy’s life.
People greeted each other with hugs as they arrived, and the room was full of conversation before the lights went down.
For 20 minutes, attendees were asked to share a memory of Gandy to the person next to them. Many conversations nearby centered on the first time people met him. Others shared a laugh over a favorite memory or the funniest thing they remembered about him.
Lillian Miller, associate provost for the Academic Success Center, said in an interview with the Daily that she knew Gandy for about two years. He showed other students how to be a mentor and a friend, she said, and students have told her their relationships are better because of him.
"He didn't just say someone was a friend or that he cared for someone," Miller said. "He really showed it, and so I think he was just a bright light on campus."
Miles Kelly, director of the Henderson Scholars Program, was one of the people who recruited Gandy to OU and selected him as a Henderson Scholar, a role that gave Gandy a platform to mentor many students.
Kelly told attendees that Gandy’s application video for the program opened with him catching a basketball and passing it off camera. Asked for one word to describe himself, Gandy said "faithful."
Kelly said in an interview that Gandy used every part of the OU experience, from working his first football game through the program to mentoring students in its office. Gandy wasn't always the loudest voice, Kelly said, but "he was always doing the things." He joked that Gandy "was always finding the little loophole" in the program's competitions.
In his application essay, Gandy wrote that his leadership grew while he played high school basketball and that Kobe Bryant inspired him most, Kelly said. He was a practice player for OU women's basketball while he was a student, the team said in an Instagram post.
Before worship began, Franklin told attendees the group was rejoicing in the life Gandy lived and the faith he showed.
Worship followed, with songs from a playlist Gandy had made, Franklin said. Some people sang out, some stayed silent and some sat holding each other. Some people cried.
A slideshow followed with photos from Gandy’s childhood and his years at OU. A video showed him speaking at Antioch Community Church about InterVarsity Black Campus Ministries and faith. "I maximize my experience," Gandy said in the video. "Everybody got my numbers. If you want to call me, call me. I will probably call you."
Jonathan Grant, a campus staff minister for Intervarsity, invited the room into a few minutes of silence with candles.
Tonye Harcourt, a 2025 OU graduate, said he prayed during his second year of college for a closer friendship with Gandy.
"I felt so encouraged in my faith every time I went around him," Tonye said. The two became close after rooming together for about four days at a 2022 missions conference.
"Those four or five days I gained a brother."
Grace Zebene, a senior nursing major, said Gandy took her under his wing and met with her at least once a week to teach her the Bible.
"He became the big brother I never had," Zebene said.
Nevaeh Pollard, a senior health and exercise science major, said in an interview that she met Gandy as an isolated sophomore. He was the first person to go out of his way to invite her in, she said. He led a weekly group on faith and leadership, and the two became close friends who lived near each other. She described him as "radiant." Gandy told her he kept a list of names to keep up with people, and when she said she forgot things, he told her to write them down.
Kori Ballard, a senior healthcare business major and parliamentarian for InterVarsity Black Campus Ministries, described a mission trip to Miami this past year. On the 32-hour bus ride, Gandy invented a game to meet all 50 participants, who ranged from middle schoolers to college students. Kori said Gandy "showed no partiality in his relationship with others."
Franklin then led a prayer before Blake Slatton, lead pastor of Antioch Community Church in Norman, gave the sermon.
"Jordan was larger than life. He had the ability to shift the atmosphere in a room,” Slatton said.
Slatton said Gandy would credit his charisma and smile to Jesus.
Josh Robinson, a 2023 graduate who helped lead Fill the Stadium, a student-led faith gathering, said in an interview before the vigil that he met Gandy his senior year after worship nights in the Oklahoma Memorial Union. He later asked him to emcee Fill the Stadium events, and the two became friends. Gandy "had a unique ability to rally people who think different, who look different, who act different," Robinson said.
"But when you were with him, it just felt like you were always family."
Robinson closed the night by asking everyone to link arms. Bibles sat on a table for people to take, and he asked attendees to give one away if they already had one, saying that's what Gandy would want.
This story was edited by Macey Thaxton.
