Updated: Monday January 12th 7:15 p.m.

A "Gathering of Friends" was held today in Lakeside Meeting Room, above Lakeside Dining Hall, at 5:30 p.m. for those who wished to share memories of Trent Stetler, an Elon junior who died earlier this week.

Members of the community who knew Stetler came to share their memories of him and offer comfort and support. Those in attendance included his friends in his business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi, and his teammates on men's rugby.

Dean of Students Smith Jackson sent an email Sunday to the student body informing the community of Stetler's death.

Elon Junior Nick Cianciara, who was in Stetler's fraternity, never expected to receive a call informing him of his friend's death.

"I would've just wanted to know why. Just because there are tons of people who love him, that's very clear. And there are tons of people who would've wanted to help him. I just want to know why he felt so alone that he wasn't able to reach out about something like this," Cianciara said.

Dean Jackson's email explained that tonight's gathering in Lakeside was open to everyone. University Chaplain Jan Fuller said students getting together to talk can go a long way.

"A little bit of alone time is not a bad thing but I think at this point it's a really good thing to come together, really good to be in groups, really good to kind of, keep talking to each other," Chaplain Fuller said. "'How did you feel when you heard this, who do you know? How do you remember Trent? What's your funnest memory of him?' So alone and together are kind of normal pieces."

Cianciara agreed.

"So it's even more important to just talk to your friends and talk to your family and say, "'Hey, just in case you ever need to talk about something: I'm here,'" he said.

Elon Local News spoke to Dean Jackson Sunday night. He said the Stetler family welcomes any cards, letters or pictures of their son to their home address: 534 Kenmore Road, Havertown, PA 19083. Mrs. Stetler's also said she welcomes emails: djstetler@verizon.net.

"Trent was one of those guys who was always going to make you smile, no matter where you are," Cianciara said. "If you're having a bad day, he'll find you and he'll let you know that he's there. He also had this big, goofy grin on his face, and if he knew how sad people were feeling right now, about all of what's happened, I think that he'd be trying to make everyone feel very positive."

Cianciara met Stetler last year through Alpha Kappa Psi and remained close friends with him.

"We spent so much time together, and we made the most of every minute we spent together," he said. "I find that if you spend every minute thinking about the regrets that you have, then it just takes over. And I think that's something Trent definitely doesn't want us thinking about, is what we regret not doing, instead of all the things that made us happy."

Stetler was an active member on Elon's campus. Along with men's rugby and Alpha Kappa Psi, he was an intern for the Phoenix Club in the Athletics department.

In his email, Dean Jackson encouraged any grieving students to reach out to Elon Counseling Services, which is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or at (336) 278-7280. After hours, counselors are available through Campus Safety and Police (336) 278-5555.

If students are more comfortable reaching out to a member of Elon's Truitt Center of Religious Life, they can contact a Chaplain here.

Stetler was from Havertown, Pennsylvania and was the son of James and Denette Stetler. He was majoring in economics minoring in communications.

"I think that he would want to be remembered for making people laugh and making people smile, and then just bringing joy to as many people's lives as possible," Cianciara said.

As of Sunday, Dean Jackson said the Burlington police are still investigating Stetler's death, but say it appears Stetler took his own life. Dean Jackson told ELN the Burlington Police said they were called around 9:15 a.m. Sunday and the incident did not occur on Elon property.