Ishmael Carlos Rosas, a 20-year-old sophomore visual and media arts student, passed away on Feb. 29.

In an email sent to the Emerson community Thursday, President M. Lee Pelton wrote that the Mansfield, Connecticut, native was on a leave of absence this semester. Rosas’ family informed the college of his death, according to Pelton.

Rosas started at the college in spring 2015 after attending Manchester Community College, according to the email. Pelton wrote that Rosas did stand-up comedy and made short films.

“Ishmael’s writing was sincere, insightful, and delightfully funny, one of his professors told us,” Pelton wrote. “Another remembered his sense of humor, which was not a boisterous, attention-grabbing sense of humor. It was a quiet humor, one that you had to pay close attention to in order to get it.”

The college plans to celebrate Rosas’ life during a memorial service at a later date, according to Pelton.

“He was a bright light taken from this world far too soon,” Pelton wrote. “Words cannot express our grief.”

Staff from Counseling and Psychological Services are present for students who need them, according to Pelton.

Rosas’ family will receive visitors on Saturday, March 5 at the Potter Funeral Home in Willimantic, Connecticut, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. They asked, in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to the Sadie Mae Foundation Animal Rescue League.