The Collegian

Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Features

Perched high on the wall of A.J.'s Café 1844 in the Grewcock Student Union, a portrait of A.J. Istvan smiles down on the clusters of students below, inviting them to relax and share a cup of coffee or a sandwich before they rush off to a class or a meeting.

Donated by A.J.'s parents, Andrew and Diana Istvan, and classmate Quinn Kiriluk '01, A.J.'s Café is intended to "honor A.J.'s memory, honor God and provide a place for students to hang out," Diana Istvan said.

"It's so appropriate that it is A.J.'s café, because he was that kind of person," Lecturer in Spanish Amanda Stechschulte said. She described A.J., a 2001 graduate who was killed in a motorcycle accident in June 2005, as a compassionate and outgoing man who was "impossible not to like."

"He would have been happy to have the students stop by and chat," she said.

Attracted to Hillsdale because of its small size and conservative values, A.J. enrolled in 1997 and excelled as a student here, Diana Istvan said.

He quickly developed a close relationship with his adviser, former Professor of Economics Lee Coppock, who now teaches at the University of Virginia.

"You go to a place like Hillsdale College, [and] you just hope all the students are going to be like A.J.," Coppock said of the finance major who graduated magna cum laude.

"He was interested in the issues. He asked a lot of questions. He was very athletic; he played IM sports - He was just like the total package."

Coppock recalled a time when he was guarding the goal against Istvan in a soccer shootout fundraiser. At the first kick, the ball rocketed over the top of the goal and was still rising when it hit the trees more than 70 yards behind.

"At that point I decided that the next goal, A.J. was either going to score or he was going to miss," Coppock said. "I wasn't the one who was going to stop it."

Although A.J. was a great student and athlete, people remember him most for his interest in others and his warm personality, Stechschulte said.

And friends fondly remember his sarcastic humor and entertaining jokes.

"I thought he was hilarious and very driven with his core values," said A.J.'s friend Ben Rush '02 in an e-mail to The Collegian. "A.J. was very dedicated to what was important to him and strived at being the best at it."

One day when Stechschulte saw A.J. at the former Gathering Coffeehouse in Jonesville, he recalled a car accident he had witnessed outside the Dow Center.

Continued...

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