Photo courtesy of Nathaniel Shalam

Collin Maher, who completed his first year in the College of Arts & Sciences, died by suicide on Friday, May 15, 2026. He was 19 years old.

Collin was a star cross-country athlete from Atlanta, Georgia, and a brother of the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) fraternity. Before coming to WashU, he founded the Cocoa Classic, a charity 5K that provided running shoes for 1,600 children across Atlanta, and was an Eagle Scout. Through all that he accomplished, Collin was most known for the friendship and kindness he extended to everyone he met.

Collin’s friends remember him for his open invitation to “talk to me.” His dorm balcony on the top floor of Dauten Hall was always filled with conversation, laughter, and the country music he played from his orange-and-white Turtlebox speaker.

“He invited everyone to his room, and he made it a place that we could meet one another and enjoy each other’s company,” rising sophomore and Collin’s friend Jei Han Hall said. “The common denominator between my best friends was that he created those friendships for many of us.”

Collin loved late-night Waffle House runs with friends. He loved anything by Chris Cornell. He loved doing impressions, even if they weren’t always spot-on. And, most of all, Collin loved people. 

Friend and rising sophomore James Rukin described Collin as the most selfless person he has met. Rukin remembered a moment when Collin was having a difficult day and still made the time to check in on him.

“[H]e would ask me about how I was, how my family was, how my sister is doing, how she likes college, or how my brother is doing,” Rukin said. “He cared so much about you — it made you feel like the most important person in the world, and even though he was struggling, and I mean he was struggling more than I even knew, and I knew he was struggling, he would always put other people first.”

Rukin recalled his mom asked Collin to get her son into running, and early the next morning, Rukin heard Collin banging on his door, calling him to go out for a multi-mile run. 

“The whole entire time, he would make me feel like I was a great runner,” Rukin said. “Collin was the type of person who would always make you feel like you were great, and would want to make you feel like you are just as good, if not better than him — even at the thing he excels in, [as] one of the best in the country.”

Collin brought a light and authenticity to all he was involved in. Friend and rising sophomore Nathaniel Shalam said Collin was the “glue” in their new member class in AEPi. Collin stepped up for his class and brotherhood, even if it meant being dunked into cold water early in the morning at the fraternity’s dunk tank at the ThurtenE Carnival.

“He was someone people rallied around,” Shalam said. “He had an effortless way of connecting people and forming friendships without even thinking about it.”

Collin was loved for his intrepid spirit. Rising sophomore John Jannotta, Collin’s friend and roommate, went jetskiing with Collin on the condition that they wouldn’t get flipped into the water.

“Instantly, he pushes the jet ski to its max speed limit, and then he’s like, ‘All right, I’m gonna hit a wave and do a 360 [degree] jump,’ so he hits the wave, attempts the 360, we both fly off the jet ski 20 feet away, and the whole time that we’re in the water, scrambling to get back on it, we are laughing.”

Jannotta said Collin always created adventure in any situation, like when he and Collin accidentally dropped their suitemate’s ID onto the balcony below them.

“Instead of knocking at their door and asking to go on their balcony and grab it back, Collin instantly got to work,” Jannotta said. “He put together a contraption with tape and traffic sticks and a lamp, and we dangled it all the way down to the balcony below.”

Collin brought levity and joy to every moment. He created conversation and laughter that transformed into community. He reached out to people who felt unseen. Rukin hopes to bring Collin’s light to his world.

“I know Collin, right now, will be looking down on me and telling me if I see someone sitting by themselves to go over and speak to them.”

Collin built a community and a space for others to feel welcome as they are. His kind heart and giving nature were apparent to everyone who knew him.

“There is never a situation where I’ve seen Collin put himself over someone else,” Rukin said. “That is probably the quality that [I] admired most about him, his ability to just love human beings so much and see the good in every single person.”

Collin is survived by his parents, Chris and Ali Maher; his younger brother, Brennan Maher; and his grandparents, Chuck and Connie Matuszak and Bill and Mary Maher. 

Funeral services were held at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta on May 21.

The family welcomes donations to Cocoa Classic Charities. Proceeds will be distributed to teen mental health organizations. To donate, visit www.runcocoaclassic.com.

The following mental health resources are available for students at WashU: WashU Cares, WashU counseling, Uncle Joe’s, SARAH, the RSVP Center, and BHR, a 24/7 resource hotline at (1-800-811-4760)

Additionally, these national resources are available to WashU students: National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 988, 988 online chat, National Grad Crisis Care, Crisis text line