Purchase, NY (Sept. 24, 2016) – And with a tip of the pink cap that became his signature, Purchase College athletics remembered former student-athlete Mark Westinghouse – gone all too soon at 26 years young – during a tribute celebration of his life in between the program's soccer doubleheader Saturday.

Friends, family and loved ones, including his parents and sisters, joined the department at midfield for a memorial in his honor. Sports Information Director Bobby Ciafardini and Assistant Sports Information Director Stephanie Janasiewicz presided over the tribute.

"Words cannot describe the grief that our program is feeling over the loss of Mark Westinghouse," Ciafardini said to the crowd. "Mark was a beloved student, student-athlete, student worker, and our hearts remain with his family.

"Today, we honor his life as we mourn the untimely death of a young man who had so much promise. If you knew Mark, you know that he wouldn't want us to dwell on the loss, but rather the joy in life. He would be the first person here to celebrate with us. Mark loved life. And we have the pink hats to prove it."

Ciafardini added: "He added color to every event he worked. He added pizazz to every tennis match. And boy oh boy, Mark could find the beauty through his photography lens when others couldn't even see it. Mark could paint a picture with one single snap, whether it was a soccer game, or the shadows fading in our atrium."

Westinghouse passed away suddenly on Aug. 6. The fashionable former tennis player and intercollegiate varsity assistant at Purchase was known for sporting a pink cap during matches and games. In honor of a young man we called "Marky Mark," Panther soccer players wore pink socks and all staff members donned pink caps. Westinghouse, a transfer student majoring in photography, passed away on his 26th birthday. Born Aug. 6, 1990 in Kingston, New York, Mark is the son of Mark and Darlene Polacco Westinghouse, and a graduate of Saugerties High School (Class of 2009). He played on the varsity wrestling, tennis and soccer teams there before signing a three-year contract with a modeling agency in New York City, where he traveled the world. He joined the Purchase community as a transfer in 2015 and in a short amount of time had developed a large network of friends.

Janasiewicz presented the Westinghouse family with a book of Mark's photographs that she assembled. Men's soccer head coach James Bruno and the program also presented a game ball on behalf of the men's and women's teams. The tribute was closed by Mark himself, as the department played a song that he covered while learning to play the guitar (See YouTube video above).

Fellow student-athletes then released a single pink balloon into the air in memory of Mark.

Although the Panther men would fall 1-0 to St. Joseph's College-LI and the Panther women dropped a 6-0 decision to Farmingdale State in the second game of the doubleheader, the afternoon was highlighted by the Westinghouse tribute, which members of both opposing programs also were on hand for.