W
hether it was her signature heeled pumps or her infectious laugh, Kayla Corrigan made life her dance floor.
During a spring break trip to Malta, the Syracuse University senior whirled around the cobblestone streets, grasping hands with a group of older women she had befriended — a moment her friend Isabel Gordon said captured her perfectly.
“She taught me about getting out of your head a little bit and being down for an adventure,” Gordon said. “I just hope that I can live up to that for her.”
Kayla, a 21-year-old marketing management senior at the Whitman School of Management, died in a December house fire in her hometown of Needham, Massachusetts.
Friends remember Kayla as someone who always brought her full self to the table — and never apologized for it.
“Like a magnet, she literally drew people towards her,” Sophia Terlecky, SU senior and one of Kayla’s closest friends, said.
While Kayla was a driven student with big goals for herself, she cared just as much about uplifting the people around her. In and outside the classroom, those who knew Kayla remember her as the ultimate “hype woman,” known to command any room with her “bubbly” personality.
She mastered the art of balancing her silly and serious sides and always lived life spontaneously. Kayla often enlisted her friends, like Terlecky, in random “side quests” at a moment’s notice.
She was the epitome of a “Get ready, I’ll be there in 10,” kind of girl, Terlecky said. Once, the “dynamic duo” shopped around Destiny USA wearing grandma wigs. On another occasion, Kayla skated through the SU men’s hockey team’s house in a player’s rollerblades — prompting the crowd to erupt in laughter.
As an ROTC cadet with a more regimented life, Terlecky said Kayla taught her how to “say yes to everything.”
“She broke me out of a shell I didn’t realize I had,” Terlecky said.
Kayla is remembered for her infectious laughter and magnetism. Photograph courtesy of Sophia Terlecky
Although Kayla loved celebrating life with the people she cherished, her academics were a top priority. During the week, she could be found late-night studying at Whitman or attending tutoring sessions for her marketing classes.
Kayla had industry experience under her belt, including a summer 2025 internship at Foundation Management & Pro-Productions and an advertising internship at McNeil, Gray & Rice Strategic Communications agency the summer before.
“She was such a hard worker,” Gordon said. “Just so committed to whatever she did, whether it was friendships or work.”
An engaged and outspoken student, Kayla sat in the front row of every class, always asking questions, and often stayed after to speak with her professors.
“Kayla’s work ethic kept her doing well throughout the semester, and she showed a level of resilience I won’t soon forget,” Whitman professor S.P. Raj wrote to The Daily Orange. “She had a measure of maturity that goes beyond what the classroom can teach.”
When a group project was assigned, Kayla naturally took the lead, but never made anyone feel overshadowed.
“She had a pretty competitive spirit,” Gordon said. “She kind of took (that) into other things that she did as well, and just always gave her best.”
Kayla and Gordon met during a big-little date for their sorority, Sigma Delta Tau. They grew close while studying abroad in Barcelona in spring 2024, and together, ventured off to Interlaken, Switzerland, and Rome, Italy.
Often wearing sparkles and her favorite color, pink, Kayla didn’t believe in overdressing – no matter the venue. For Kayla, an average night out at one of her favorite on-campus bars, Orange Crate Brewing Company, called for stiletto pumps and a dress.
Hendricks Chapel turned pink for Kayla’s memorial on Friday. Hundreds of attendees, including SU students and Kayla’s friends and family, filled the pews honoring Kayla by wearing her favorite color.
Infatuated with her friend Ava Loucas’ blue Ford Bronco, Kayla once flagged her down for an impromptu ride across campus. With half her body hanging out the window, Loucas remembers the wind blowing through Kayla’s long blonde hair.
“She was so full of life, and so silly and unapologetically her,” Loucas said. “When you have her amount of energy, some people are intimidated by that. For me, it’s refreshing.”
Kayla always put others first. From sharing her clothes, to post-graduation pep talks, to study dates with friends like Sadie Potyk, she made sure she was someone people could count on.
While taking a marketing simulation class last semester, Kayla regularly helped Potyk go over course material. Potyk said meeting with Kayla was always her favorite part of the week.
“Her kindness is something that we will be able to carry with us forever,” Potyk said. “She made life a little less heavy in times when you needed it.”
And even in her harder moments, Terlecky remembers Kayla never made anyone feel unseen.
“She always cared about how someone else felt even if she was having the hardest day,” Terlecky said. “She didn’t make her bad day your bad day.”
Kayla is also remembered for her generosity. She was the first to sign up for SDT’s “Best in the Game” philanthropy event, volunteered at the Red Cross and helped out at local food pantries.
During this past spring recruitment, members of SDT recognized Kayla’s legacy by wearing gold “K” pins for their preference round. The sorority is also in the process of developing a scholarship in Kayla’s honor, SDT President Samantha Glickson wrote to The D.O.
Kayla lived in the SDT house her sophomore year. Every night, she would run up the stairs and approach SU senior Abigail Seigel’s door with her special knock, often in a pair of her “crazy” pajamas, like her cheetah print onesie. Seigel said Kayla always entered her room with a ball of energy and occasionally convinced her to break out in dance.
“She had such a unique ability to just turn anyone’s day around just by being there,” Seigel said.
Seigel vividly remembers a conversation she had with Kayla last semester, where they talked about their soon-to-be lives after graduation. Here, Kayla made Seigel feel immediately reassured about her future.
“There was not a single person who she didn’t touch, even if she didn’t speak to them individually,” Seigel said. “Her kindness just radiated through everything.”
An active person with an immeasurable amount of grit, Kayla loved taking cycling classes, running and going for walks with Loucas’ roommate’s dog, Bubbee. Growing up, she was also on a competitive gymnastics team.
In October, Kayla and Terlecky competed in a Spartan Race – a 10k course featuring obstacles like sandbag carries and monkey bars. Kayla placed in the top 20 of her age group and crossed the finish line with a smile on her face.
“She proved you can have balance and still be badass, and be the girly girl, but still have grit,” Terlecky said. “She just never backed down from doing something.”
But what mattered most to Kayla was the people around her. Her habit of always showing love for people earned her the title of “family hugger.”
“She always just wanted her family to be together,” Terlecky said.
Kayla is survived by her parents, Christa Baer Corrigan and Jim Corrigan, and sister, Alyssa Corrigan.
Her compassion and loyalty were seen by anyone and everyone she met. Kayla embraced the truest version of herself and never hid it. When asked about Kayla, Terlecky claims the mantra, “She loved fiercely, showed up fully.”
Kayla possessed the unique ability to own a room and ignore any judging eyes. While she especially loved country music, anything with a good beat sufficed. And if there wasn’t a dance floor present, she made it her job to make one.
“She was just unapologetically herself,” Seigel said. “I think that everybody in this life should just be a little more like Kayla.”
Design by Adelaide Guan | Design Editor. Photographs courtesy of Isabel Gordon and Sophia Terlecky.
Published on March 26, 2026 at 12:40 am