Late Thursday, Oct. 30, KAMP Student Radio lost its general manager, Sophia Troetel. But in that moment, they lost much more than that. KAMP lost its leader, friend and the heartbeat of the station. It lost the loudest voice, the kindest heart and the hardest worker. Her loss to the station itself and her countless friends there will be irreparable.
This profile and tribute to Troetel includes quotes from dozens of KAMP members, some of whom were among her closest friends.
‘Sophia made me feel like I mattered’
Part of what made Troetel such an effective leader for KAMP was her ability to flip someone from interested in KAMP to becoming a member or fellow leader in the organization.
Faye Zhang, a current music director at KAMP, said, “Sophia [Troetel] didn’t hesitate to invite me to go to Noodleholics with everyone; she even offered to drive since my car was parked a while away. We picked up Katya [Castillo-Mendoza] from Scented Leaf along the way and I think we talked about her upcoming birthday and work on the way over.”
Zhang continued, “I was just starting to get to know the rest of the officers so it genuinely meant so much that her first thought was to invite and sit next to me at the table to make me feel included. She was always so inviting and would never hesitate to talk about our shared dislike of apathy or to give me a hug every time we saw each other. KAMP is easily the best part of my time in college and I don’t know if I would have gotten to know everyone or be as involved if it wasn’t for her.”
“I think the first time we ever spoke, she complimented my KAMPer of the Week presentation. She would dance with me to Kesha and Britney Spears at the house parties we attended,” Crista Valenzuela, an executive board member at KAMP, said. “She was always a hype-woman, making me feel heard and supported whenever I had a conversation with her.”
“Sophia [Troetel] made me feel like I mattered. She took everything I said seriously, even the stuff that definitely wasn’t so serious,” Alyssa Acevedo, KAMP’s news director, said. “I keep thinking she’s going to pop up out of nowhere with ‘Hey cutie!’ and brighten my day with a compliment on my outfit and a chat.”
‘She brought KAMP together like no one else’
Troetel put great effort into everything she did and KAMP was no exception.
“I was so nervous to run KAMP with her as we were heading into the summer. I was just thinking about how busy both of us were and if we were gonna be able to give our full attention to the organization like it deserved,” KAMP’s head music director Micah Dalton said. “I went over to her apartment and she had all the interviews planned with the details of every music director already written out, and specific questions for every person.
“We spent two weeks seeing each other almost every day, stopping to grab Ding Tea or lunch at Cheba Hut. When we were finished with the interviews, we would relax and watch movies on her laptop. Katya [Castillo-Mendoza] and Josiah [Santos] would stop to watch with us sometimes, and I never felt like I was being rushed out of the house even though I knew they were so busy and had such little time together. I felt so comforted and at peace at her house. Knowing I won’t see the three of them anymore feels like an insurmountable loss.
“One of my last in-person conversations with Sophia [Troetel] was just each of us telling the other that we were so proud of our work and how special KAMP felt this year. I don’t know how to continue on without her.”
“Sophia [Troetel] was one of the most bubbly and kind people I’ve ever met. The first time I went to KAMP in freshman year, we were both new and excited about our future in the radio,” Fae Campbell said. “We instantly connected through our shared love of music and being from New York. While I had trouble making friends, she was always the light that guided me to other people in the club and she soon became one of my few friends in freshman year. She was my first friend in KAMP, and we made friends together that I still keep to this day. She always had a way of making everyone feel included.”
Campbell also spoke about Sophia’s leadership: “As the GM, she brought KAMP together like no one else, and created a community out of our cliques. She is truly a person who cannot be replaced. I really strive to be like Sophia [Troetel] and I hope to honor her in the future by showing up for my community in the ways that she has.”
Zhang also said, “KAMP is easily the best part of my time in college and I don’t know if I would have gotten to know everyone or be as involved if it wasn’t for her.”
An infectious personality
Troetel stood out as a presenter during general meetings for KAMP. Meetings are typically loud and chaotic, but not in the first half. The beginning of meetings is reserved for updates and announcements. Most executive board members speak briefly and procedurally. When Troetel grabbed the mic, none of that was the case. She was entertaining, enthusiastic and impossible to ignore.
“Her positivity and bubbliness were infectious. She could spark a smidgen of energy in the most exhausted person,” Teddy LaBette, a KAMP member, said. “She was a wonderful leader: compassionate, welcoming and kind to everyone. She made this bitter, cold world sweeter and warmer when she was in it. That is no small feat.”
University of Arizona students who have recently graduated shared their experiences with Troetel as well. “Every single interaction I had with Sophia [Troetel] was incredible,” one former student said. “Her genuine joy, kindness and sweetness was so infectious — she was the embodiment of a sunflower or sweet candy. I have never met someone so bubbly and kind 100% of the time […]. Her impact and personality was one of a kind.”
‘She helped me look forward to living again’
Troetel transformed KAMP into a space that altered people’s well-being.
“I wasn’t in a good place mentally when I first became a member at KAMP,” LaBette said. “The atmosphere she helped create made me look forward to living again. She gave me hope and inspired me to make the changes I needed in my life.”
Another member wrote, “As a new KAMP member, I noticed right away how kind a person Sophia [Troetel] was towards everyone. Sophia [Troetel] was a very positive person and I looked forward to the club meetings every week. I will miss her enthusiastic energy and wish I could’ve known her more sooner but I’m glad to have seen her at club meetings, she was such an angel.”
Campbell also recounted, “She remembered everything you’d tell her and she had genuine care for everyone she spoke to; no matter who they were. Sometimes when we went back home, we would hang out in NYC and go shopping for little trinkets — I got to know all of her favorite characters and stores, and we always had the best conversations even if we hadn’t seen each other in a while. It was amazing that our friendship lasted outside the hustle of school and KAMP, and it really showed that she truly cared about all her friends no matter where she was. No matter if it was years or months since seeing you, she always greeted you with a hug and a smile on her face.”
“Sophia was someone who would lift you up,” Kamsi Kamna-Okafor said. “She was one of the best mentors ever. Everyday, she reminded me that I have what it takes to succeed by saying, ‘You got this, king!’ This echoes in my head everyday. She boosts everyone’s confidence by calling them ‘king’ or ‘queen’ and she was honestly the nicest person in KAMP. I’ll always miss her.”
A reverence of the station’s history
Obsessed with improving the station, Troetel looked back in time to evaluate how to improve in the future.
KAMP, founded in 1988, has for decades been a cultural and social pulse of the university. The walls of KAMP are lined with student memories, music and archives from its 37-year history. If the walls could talk, they would beg someone to look through them. Last year, Troetel did just that.
As Troetel rummaged through the station, she discovered something: a 2013 KAMP zine, folded into a small four-page booklet. The zine featured art, event information and served as a tool for attracting new members. This find led Troetel to revive the zine for the first time in 12 years.
In many ways, the zines embodied Troetel herself — bright, loud and creative. With help from former KAMP news director Topaz Servellion, Troetel brought the project back to life. By the end of the academic year in May, there was no doubt the zine would once again be a staple of KAMP.
Her fascination with the station’s past didn’t end there. Troetel learned and taught about KAMP’s earlier eras and incorporated ideas from its history into her modern vision — more marketing, more music across campus and more visibility.
Troetel was the closest thing KAMP had to a historian. Her love for the station motivated her to learn everything she could about its past.
A life of service
Although Troetel was just 21, she was relentlessly focused on helping people and making a difference.
As GM, Troetel continued the “KAMP Cares” initiative, which she led up until the day she passed. Under her direction, KAMP was holding a menstrual product drive for those who couldn’t afford them, set to conclude on Halloween. Troetel named the initiative “A Bloody Good Time.”
In addition to being a dedicated student and organizational leader, Troetel volunteered with victim services for the Pima County Attorney’s Office.
“Sophia [Troetel] was incredibly feminist and made uplifting women a part of her daily life,” Miriam Kaylor, KAMP’s electronic music director, said. “I can’t think of anyone who was more active and involved in her community.”
Troetel was studying psychology to become a psychiatrist. Many at KAMP said she was the one they turned to when they needed to talk about their lives.
“[I] was coming out of the Daily Wildcat with a stack of freshly printed zines and seeing her come out from the KAMP office,” Acevedo said. “We met in the middle of the hallway and she pulled me into the bathroom of all places just so we could have a private place to chat. We stood in there and talked about life and school and I can’t remember the details now but it mattered to me that she just wanted to talk. Her love was simple, but it was so loud.”
Destined for success
Countless KAMP students described Troetel as “unique.” Her energy set her apart.
Troetel was deeply committed to hard work — transitioning from hours of assignments to hauling DJ equipment across campus without complaint. She drove the old KAMP van “like a true New Yorker,” as one member put it, with determination and confidence.
Troetel was kind — many called her “the nicest person I had ever met” — but she was also strong. She loved to quote former KAMP advisor Mike Camarillo, who encouraged students to be “politely persistent.”
Whether Troetel was coordinating DJ events or managing KAMP’s 100-plus members, she balanced kindness with leadership, always keeping the station’s best interests at heart.
Troetel was also omnipresent — active in multiple social circles, connected with university faculty and staff, and somehow managing a double major in psychology and Spanish while running one of the largest student organizations on campus.
“Sophia [Troetel] treated me like a friend from the moment we met,” April Cushman said. “She endeavored to know and care about me even through the few interactions we had. I’ll never forget that she knew my name before I had even said a word to her. Even in a big, complicated club like KAMP, she made it feel like a family to which I was immediately welcome.”
The love of her life
Tragically, Troetel was not alone when she was fatally struck in a pedestrian crosswalk. She was with her roommate and close friend, Katya Castillo-Mendoza, and the love of her life, Josiah Santos.
It was not uncommon for Troetel to interrupt herself mid-conversation to express how much she loved Santos. The two were, in many ways, a perfect match — both artistic and passionate. Santos, a member of the a cappella group Meow or Never, had no greater supporter than Troetel.
Santos had a unique ability to capture her full attention. Even during KAMP’s “Mondays on the Mall” events, where Troetel DJed and promoted the station, she would stop everything when she saw him.
Acevedo described their relationship: “Josiah [Santos] loved Sophia [Troetel] just as much as she loved him. They were really the perfect couple: perfect for each other and for the people that knew them. As much as they were a textbook ‘lovey-dovey’ couple, I felt nothing but warmth and happiness when I would see them together.
“My favorite memories to recount of them are when Josiah [Santos] would come by the office to drop Sophia [Troetel] off before our Friday e-board meetings. He would walk up with her to the door but never step past the doorframe. You would be able to see them through the sliver of a window in the door and they would look at each other, talk, and most of the time, they would kiss.
“After a long embrace with Josiah [Santos], Sophia [Troetel] would pop her head in and tell us it’s time for our meeting and Josiah [Santos] would somehow disappear down the hall, to be seen next Friday. Knowing they had each other in their final moments is devastatingly beautiful and comforting.”
