K Zhan ’25 died on March 30, 2024, in Topsham, Maine.

(The following was provided by Excerpts from email from President Safa Zaki in March 31, 2024:)

I write with the very sad and upsetting news that our student Qingyang Zhan ’25—known as K—died overnight off campus. We do not yet know the cause of death, which is under investigation.

K was born in Shanghai, China, and has been living in the US since 2019. A graduate of the Athenian School in Danville, California, she also studied at Oxnard College in Oxnard, California, before matriculating at Bowdoin in the fall of 2021. Faculty members describe K as a bright and engaging presence, and many will remember her warmth and kindness. Her academic advisor, Jean Yarbrough—the Gary M. Pendy Sr. Professor of Social Sciences—described K as a student who was deeply interested in the most important theological and philosophical questions.

K helped found Bowdoin’s Chinese Students Association and was also active in the Asian Student Association. A government and legal studies and Asian studies double major, she was a learning assistant for Asian Studies in the Baldwin Center for Teaching and Learning and a musician who played the piano and guitar as part of the Bowdoin Concert Band.