Tristan Witte ’18

Tristan Witte plays guitar with mic on stand.

March 4, 1996–July 15, 2016

The Harvey Mudd community mourns the loss of Harvey Mudd College engineering student Tristan Witte ’18, 20, a talented athlete, musician and scholar, who passed away in a car accident July 15 along with his friend JJ Adkisson, 20, a graphic design student at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia.

The two young men had been fast friends since meeting in third grade Sunday school at Marin Covenant Church in San Rafael.

“They went to different schools and lived in different cities but connected at a higher level with their passion for music and cool things like Pokemon and now Pokemon Go,” said Marcus Witte, Tristan’s father, in a Marin Independent Journal article.

The two friends were driving to Claremont on Interstate 210 in Southern California to pick up classmates at Harvey Mudd for a weekend camping trip at Joshua Tree National Park when the accident occurred.

An active member of the Harvey Mudd community and a fan of the beach, surfing and music, Witte planned to lead first-year students on an Orientation Adventure Trip to Venice beach with classmate Connor Colombe ’18 later this summer. They planned a day and a half of fun on the beach. “We will be lounging and playing games/sports on the beach, chilling in the water, eating local food and spending the night in a famous hostel,” reads the event description.

It’s a trip that matched his personality—described as “radiant coolness and laid-back” by one high school friend—as well as his desire to bond with classmates.

Students and faculty members recall Witte as easy going and even-keeled in a way that helped his classmates immensely. An engineering faculty member recalls, “When they were super stressed (which was nearly always), he’d crack a joke or play some reggae that would relax everyone and make them all more effective. He also showed great respect for every person on his team.”

Fellow engineering student and friend Lillian Liang ’18 pointed out that “he always looked people in the eye and really listened when they talked.”

Witte further served the Harvey Mudd community by being a peer consultant at the Writing Center and was pursuing an interest in languages by taking classes in Chinese.

The son of Marcus and Irmgard Witte of San Rafael, California, Witte is survived by his parents, and a younger sister, Peyton. Family members joined with friends at Witte’s former job, Silberman’s Ice Cream Shop, to create a special flavor in his honor. The “Mudd Slide,” contains all of Witte’s favorites: green-dyed vanilla ice cream with fudge butterscotch, chocolate-coated toffee pieces and molasses chips. It was an instant hit, and fellow Mudders brought some back to campus to share.

Jatin Abacousnac '19

First met Tristan during my first counseling session at the Writing Center and he stuck me as someone who was helpful, interested in the subject at hand and knowledgeable. Well, I’ll always remember him mostly for his “fighting spirit” during PE (soccer) and how he’d leap for aerial balls, or make constant calls for the ball. And that fighting spirit would be contagious! You were gone too soon. Rest in peace, Tristan.

Camille Caron Croll '18

Friend

I spent countless hours in Tristan’s room (“Anti-Slouch”) this past year, doing problem sets (always at the last minute) and other work, watching Off the Air or Community or whatever television show he was currently binge-watching, or just hanging out with the boys.
During the school year, Tristan’s mom gave him a stress-relieving coloring book along with a clipboard and an assortment of colored pencils. At unexpected times, fellow students would come into the room and he’d hand them the supplies and they would just start coloring, looking genuinely happy. This was such a common occurrence that I don’t know how many unfinished drawings there were around the room by the end of the year. Nobody ever looked unhappy in Anti-Slouch, and rarely ever in Tristan’s presence at all. He was truly a beacon of happiness and acceptance and love.
It wasn’t until after his passing that I learned of Tristan’s faith, but it is so clear to me looking back on who he was and how he composed himself and treated others. After listening to his senior speech given at church after graduation, I realized how similar our religious experiences were, but how successfully he carried it out in everyday life. With this in mind, I am trying to learn to love and accept people the way Tristan did so well. Spreading love and joy is what Tristan did best, and even in his too-short lifetime he touched more lives than most of us do in several decades.
It’s so hard not to be sad and heartbroken over the loss of such a dear friend and amazing person, but in his honor I try to keep my chin up and be positive because it’s what he would have done, and what he would want us to do.

Dylan '17

I remember going to him last semester, panicked, for help outlining and essay, and 45 minutes later emerged infinitely calmer. It was honestly just talking to him for those 45 minutes that made me feel better– he had a way about him that just put people at ease. Tristan will be deeply missed at the writing center.

Sam K Miller '17

Friend

Tristan’s room was an amazingly welcoming place… Sometimes you’d just find yourself trapped in there on a Friday night, watching stupid and awesome youtube videos, eating pizza, general wylin, and all the rest. He was a positive, genuine dude, not afraid to be himself or speak his mind.

Joyce Yang '16

On the first day of fall semester, I met Tristan Witte. He was in Prof. Liu’s Chinese class. He was really good at the stuff in class. I was in North with him this past year. Rest in Peace.

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