Joshua Drayton, a student at Binghamton University from the city of Binghamton, and a lover of music, passed away on Feb. 18 due to drug-related causes. He was 22.

Drayton, a senior majoring in sociology, was loved by his friends, family and teachers. He was passionate about music and always found time for it amongst his studies, according to the priest who spoke at his memorial.

The memorial service was held in the Mandela Room on Feb. 26, and Chris Zamlout, the executive vice president of the Student Association, spoke on behalf of the student body.

“This is a student that is part of our culture, part of our Binghamton University, and we just lost a small piece of that,” said Zamlout, a senior majoring in philosophy, politics and law. “The loss of someone is tremendous, we can’t emphasize enough that this is a loss of someone who was active on campus, someone who touched the lives of people.”

According to his professors, Drayton was very interested in social theory, and contributed to his class discussions passionately. Ana Candela, an assistant professor in the sociology department, taught Drayton in her course on gender in Chinese society.

“Joshua was a truly brilliant and deeply engaged young man,” Candela said. “I learned that Joshua cared about social issues, about people’s struggles and about thinking critically about the world in which we live.”

Geetisha Dasgupta, a doctoral candidate studying sociology, taught a small class that Drayton was in. She said that he was always active in class, and that he was very knowledgeable about the subject matter.

“Josh as a student was superb,” Dasgupta said. “I wish every class has more people like him. He was a really critical mind; we often get students who don’t have any inkling about what’s happening around them. Josh wasn’t like that at all, he was up ahead of his peers in the class.”

Denis O’Hearn, the chair of the sociology department, did not know Drayton personally, but he said that everyone in the department who did know him spoke very highly of him.

“I heard very good things about him, how bright of a student he was,” O’Hearn said. “When he passed and I talked to people about him, they were quite shocked because the people that knew him thought very highly of him, he was a guy who stood out in class because he would discuss things at a pretty high level.”

Candela said that Drayton will be missed by everyone he knew.

“He was greatly loved and will be deeply missed by the hundreds of family members, friends and community people that were part of his life,” Candela said. “He was the rare kind of student that makes teaching worthwhile, and gives you tremendous hope.”

Drayton is survived by his parents, Christopher and Jeanne Drayton, his brother Cameron and his sister Jaden.