By Harrison Cahill
The State
CLEMSON, SC — A Clemson University student died in an apparent accidental fall from the mast of a cruise ship, according to an incident report filed with the Miami-Dade Police Department and officials with Clemson University.
It’s the second death of a Clemson student in just over a week.
Kendall Wernet, 20, was on the radar deck of a Carnival Cruise ship Monday when he climbed the ship’s forward mast and fell the approximate height of two decks, said Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, a Miami-Dade Police Department spokesman. The city of Miami and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to the incident and transported Wernet to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Officials with the Miami-Dade Medical Examiners Office said Wernet died from blunt force trauma, adding the death is being ruled an accident. A toxicology report is being conducted, but results could take up to a month.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death of Clemson student Kendall Wernet, a junior management (student) from Arden, N.C.,” Shannon Finning, dean of students at Clemson University, said in an email statement. “Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and friends, and we stand ready to help them through this difficult time.”
Wernet’s ship was returning from three-day cruise to the Bahamas, according to the cruise line.
Wernet had been on an awards cruise for Macomb, Mich.-based Student Painters, the company’s owner, Steve Acorn, said. A group of five or six climbed up on the platform as the Carnival Ecstasy was returning to the port of Miami.
“They had seen a group up there the night before and thought it would be a good idea to go there at about 5 a.m. to see the sun rise over Miami,” he said. No drinking was involved.
“They were up there talking ... and the radar system went on,” Acorn said. “Based on where you were standing, it caught Kendall and threw him down.”
Wernet had started with the company in summer 2013 as a branch manager and was promoted this past summer to district manager, teaching seven to nine new students how to run a Student Painters franchise.
“This was a group of elite college kids who choose to work 80 hours a week” during the summers, Acorn said.
Wernet was on the company’s awards cruise last year, too, Acorn said.
“He was a huge part of our success,” Acorn said. “Kendall was one of those kids that if you had a daughter you’d want her to find Kendall.”
Nicholas Dalpiaz, who was a classmate and friend of Wernet at Clemson, described him as his “third brother.”
“Not only because he looked like my brother and I, but because he had the same entrepreneur-like attitude and was so fun to be around,” Dalpiaz said.
Wernet founded a business called Driven Vision with Dalpiaz’s older brother four months ago.
“We have established The Driven Vision with the mission to help the younger generation escape society’s pull to follow a path of mediocrity,” the company’s website says.
“Society has taught us not to think as an individual, but more as a group and that ‘fitting in’ is the right thing to do,” it says. “Our mentality on hard work, motivation, and achieving success has been skewed by a world that is overprotective of rejection and scared of taking risks.”
Dalpiaz said, “Kendall had a way with people and customers that was God-given, and not learned, and we both admired that.”
“He was such a nice guy. And I wish I had a better word than nice, but Kendall carried a smile every time I saw him,” he said.
Wernet graduated from Roberson High School in in Arden, N.C., in 2012 with a 4.4 grade point average.
He was a captain for Roberson’s cross country and indoor/outdoor track teams, and was a principal member of the Symphonic Band and a member of the National Honor Society.
Wernet continued his participation in Symphonic Band at Clemson. He was also a member of the Sailing Club, the Contra Club and iLead, and was a regional manager for Young Entrepreneurs Across America.
John Gouch, a Clemson University spokesman, said this is the fourth student death this school year at Clemson University.
Another student, 19-year-old Tucker Hipps, died Sept. 22 after allegedly falling from the S.C. 93 bridge that spans Lake Hartwell. Hipps, a sophomore Sigma Phi Epsilon pledge, was reported missing after an early morning run with fraternity members.
The Oconee County Sheriff’s Department is still investigating Hipps’ death.
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©2014 The State (Columbia, S.C.)