Harris Bunker

[darkermatters]

Hi everyone,

It is with great sadness that I let you all know that Harris Bunker (MSU '19, UCSD economics) passed away on Oct. 19 after a long and difficult battle with medical issues beginning last year. He was 24.

Those who knew Harris in quiz bowl remember him as a talented player, writer, and dedicated member of the community, but more than that, Harris was consummately a scholar. He was someone who endlessly sought knowledge not just for the sake of recall in trivia competitions, but also for the sake of using it to better understand the world around him and make that world a better place through his research on economic policy. Above all, I and many others will remember him as a friend.

https://www.freep.com/obituaries/det106946

Please consider donating to the American Red Cross or bethematch.com, or volunteering to give blood in his memory. He was lost far too young, and will be dearly missed.

[AKKOLADE]

Donations to Be the Match may be made here.

Donations to the American Red Cross may be made here.

[meebles127]

Be the Match also serves as a donor registry for those in need of stem cell transplants. It is free and incredibly easy to sign up, with the process taking no more than 5 minutes. You must be at least 18 years old to register, ideally younger than 40, and meet their health qualifications. If you are ever selected to donate, bethematch pays for all of your expenses related to the donation, and the vast majority of donations are collected through apheresis - a simple procedure similar to the one used for platelet donations.

Sign up if you can, encourage your friends and family to do so, and if you can't be a donor, donate to the cause.

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Harris was a wonderful person and an even greater friend. I'll never forget the conversations we shared about everything from economics to Pokémon. I'm happy that our paths crossed and we got to work together on various projects. I know I'm gonna miss him.

[Arch Stanton]

Rest in peace, Harris.

[A Dim-Witted Saboteur]

When Harris said he was going to do something, you knew he was going to do it. That's an incredibly rare quality in any community as it is in the world as a whole. Another remarkable thing about him was that no matter how much we argued online or sometimes in real life, he would have thought through his position beforehand and would never take anything personally afterward: we were still on the same team and we were still friends. Harris was also an incredibly persistent person. Subjects like Detroit sports, tax policy, and Deleuze that would have defeated lesser men were his bread and butter. There are so many great memories I have of him, and it hurts a lot to know there won't be more of them. He was a special teammate, a special friend, and a special person in general. Rest in peace, buddy.

[rxailagan]

I had the honor of meeting Harris when he started quizbowl during his freshman year at Grosse Pointe North. Him and I would bond as we were the only 2 from GPN who stayed involved in the quizbowl community and we were both invested in improving the high school quizbowl circuit in southeast Michigan. Quizbowl is a better place because of him.

Other tributes are being collected here: https://www.verheyden.org/obituary/6182 ... in-Bunker/

[Justice William Brennan]

Given that Penn Bowl 2021 was Harris' final QB project, we wanted to highlight how much we appreciated his excellent work editing social science and his insightful comments across the set. With his parents' permission, we have donated his editor's fee to bethematch.com in his memory.