ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Not that long ago, Dylan Lyons was a fixture at UCF.

Students and faculty spent Thursday remembering the 2019 graduate at a memorial set up on campus at the entrance to the Nicholson School of Communication and Media. 

And later that night, students, as well as Lyons' former classmates and professors, gathered in front of the school for a vigil in honor of their fellow Knight.

“It’s just really sad to know that someone from the UCF family has passed away doing something that they loved,” broadcast journalism student Maitane Orue said ahead of the vigil.

In front of the building where Lyons studied journalism, the next generation of UCF students spent the day Friday telling his story.

“It’s crazy how we are sitting on the desk every Friday, the desk he used to anchor as a nightly news student," broadcast journalism student Nicolle Osorio said. "It’s just very sad because it could’ve been me. It could’ve been anyone else.”

Rick Brunson, a senior instructor at the Nicholson School, said Lyons used to come into his office with a stack of scripts, eager to talk news.

“He had ‘it’, you know?" Brunson said "You hear news directors talk about the ‘it’ factor. He was the kind of person who was going to leap onto any stage.”

The two stayed in touch as Lyons began his career.

In summer 2021, he visited Lyons at WCJB in Gainesville.

“They had just made him weekend anchor," Brunson said. "He was on the anchor desk, and it was like he had made it.”

That was the last time they saw each other. Brunson said when he heard Wednesday that a reporter had been shot, he rushed to the hospital.

“I was praying all the way down the 408, like, ‘God spare this boy, God spare this boy, please spare this boy,’ ” Brunson said.

The UCF community is also remembering him with photos, flowers and handwritten messages at the campus memorial, thanking Lyons for his passion and dedication to journalism and promising that his legacy will live on. The Nicholson School posted a message about Lyons on its website.

“He was just doing his job," broadcast journalism student Isabella  Benjumea said. "He was just doing what he was assigned. That’s what journalists do every, single day.”

Brunson remembers a young journalist who had come a long way in a short time and had so much ahead of him.

“That’s the awful part of it," Brunson said. "The best was yet to come for him. He was just so immensely talented and so immensely driven that the sky was the limit for him. I know it’s a cliche, but I mean, he had drive and determination, and he wanted to succeed and he loved doing this.”

Speaking Friday night at the vigil, senior journalism student Caroline Brauchler said she never met Lyons, but his death brought home a painful lesson.

“Journalism comes with a risk, and they tell us that in the classroom," she said. "They let us know that this isn’t going to be the safest job. But it’s one thing when it happens overseas … it’s another thing when it happens here, right down the street."

Brauchler, who’s also editor-in-chief of student publication NSM Today, said she learned as much as she could about Lyons for an article she wrote about his death.

“Telling his story was the greatest honor of my young life,” she told those gathered for the vigil, which she also helped organize.

“The reason why I felt compelled to do this is because I knew that if Dylan was on my news team, that he would continue coverage, regardless of what happened, and that the story still has to get out,” she continued said.

At the vigil, those who did know him told Lyons' story as they knew it.

Professors spoke about his determination and talent; a former classmate remembered him as a friend and competitor who brought inspiration to UCF’s journalism program; and current students who said they strive to live up to his legacy.

For some, coming together Friday was a chance to heal as a community.

“The fact that people that I know in this community that knew Dylan, I knew they’re grieving right now, and so, the fact that they’re doing that, I wanted to be there for that,” said senior journalism student Bryson Turner.

During the vigil, Brunson called the shootings in Pine Hills this week “total darkness," and told those in attendance that what Lyons — and all journalists stand for — is to be a light in the darkness.

“It’s kind of lit a new sense of passion and fire inside of me to go out and do the reporting that Dylan can no longer do,” said senior journalism student Melissa Donovan.