“Taken From Us Far Too Early:” Remembering Clinician El’Verson Mitchell

Harrison Stidolph Editor-in-Chief

Photo//University of Michigan-Dearborn

The campus community is mourning the loss of El’Verson Mitchell, a mental health clinician in Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). Officials say he lost his life in a car accident with an intoxicated driver while on his way home from work before the new year. He was 27. 

Mitchell served CAPS as a liaison for Athletics, coordinating student-athlete support among other student support projects. For his work, he was nominated for the Chancellor’s Rising Star Staff Award in November.

According to police, Mitchell was stopped late December 29 at a traffic light in Clinton Township when he was rear-ended into another vehicle by an intoxicated driver. He was found unresponsive at the scene, and transported to the hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.

Mitchell’s family said they were unaware of his full condition until they arrived at the hospital, but want to uphold his spirit supporting mental health and his passion for life: “What I say to that driver: peace and love,” said Mitchell’s father when his family sat down with WXYZ Detroit.

When asked for comment, administrators in Athletics were quick to paint him as a compassionate and loving member of the community who went above and beyond to serve UM-Dearborn student-athletes. 

“El’Verson was an amazing and dedicated member of the UM-Dearborn community,” said Director of Athletics and Recreation Bryan Earl over email. 

“He regularly met with athletic teams to talk to them about the mental side of athletics. El’Verson would go the extra mile and attend practices and games to see how the student-athletes were performing and to see if they needed anything from him,” he said. 

“He was always smiling and willing to help. El’Verson will be dearly missed by so many.”

Eric Stark, Head Volleyball Coach and Assistant AD of Student-Athlete Welfare and Development, characterized Mitchell as a kind soul who positively impacted student-athletes both in and out of sport. 

“He was sincere and relatable in his approach to student-athlete mental health and we all benefited from the few years we were gifted to work with him here at UM-Dearborn,” he said.

Behind his interest in serving student-athletes, Mitchell had unique experience having been one himself: before obtaining his Master’s in Social Work from the University of Michigan in 2021, he earned his Bachelor’s in Psychology from Albion College where he played football. 

A celebration of life was held by Mitchell’s family on Tuesday, January 9 in Detroit. See more including Mr. Mitchell’s online obituary in the online version of this article on wolverinemedianetwork.com/michiganjournal.

If any students or staff would like to submit comments on his memory for the potential to be featured in a future Michigan Journal issue, please contact

Harrison Stidolph (hstid@umich.edu).