She was excited to run UM’s campus radio station — but cancer just took her life at 23
University of Miami communications student Joanna Jara had found her home on the Coral Gables campus.
There, ensconced inside the university’s venerable radio station, WVUM 90.5 FM, Jara was on her way to becoming the general manager of the student-run station this year.
“This station has kept me motivated to continue improving as a student, leader, and DJ. I dedicate a lot of my time to making sure WVUM is running well and to making sure that we are doing the best we can for South Florida,” Jara posted on her Facebook page on March 31. She wanted to inspire donors to contribute to the station, which has been UM’s “Voice” since its founding in 1968.
But earlier that month, in March, Jara was re-diagnosed with cancer. Sarcoma cancer. She posted about it on March 18.
“I don’t know a lot of info about it yet,” Jara said on Facebook. “I will be withdrawing from school for the rest of the semester to receive treatment.”
Her friends reacted with messages of support — dozens of posts — all along the lines of this one from Elisa Dobal: “You have to beat it. You are too special and the world needs you here!!!”
Jara, who had gone to her family home in Satellite Beach near Orlando to continue treatment, told another friend, “I have beat it twice. This is the third time.”
But she didn’t return to the campus.
On Nov. 26, Jara — just 23 — died, said Patricia Whitely, UM’s vice president of student affairs.
“She was an integral member of the WVUM family since she first arrived on campus and has left a lasting legacy,” Whitely said in a news release. “She had previously served as the programming director and was dedicated to the station as it had kept her striving to reach her goals.”
Jara’s sister, Kathy Jara, shared the news on her Facebook page.
“Joanna faced every trial bravely and at age twenty three she had accomplished so much and overcome so many difficulties with grace and strength. She had many plans, and I have no doubt she would have continued to excel at life if it had not been for our inability as a society to provide her and others with treatment and cure to cancerous disease,” Kathy Jara wrote.
Jara had osteosarcoma for five years. It’s a cancer of the bones and most common among people 25 and younger, according to The Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative.
Yet Jara, who was born in Miami on Oct. 23, 1996, never wavered in her support for WVUM and for the Coral Gables campus since her acceptance in August 2015. At UM she was a senior majoring in general motion pictures in the School of Communication.
“Joanna’s energy and excitement was infectious. She was an incredible human being who spread her love for people and music wherever she went. Her faculty and advisors describe her as one of the most caring and inclusive students they have ever worked with,” Whitely said.
Two weeks ago, Paul Driscoll, UM’s associate professor and vice dean for academic affairs, visited Jara in Satellite Beach to present her with her graduation diploma.
UM plans a celebration of life at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, at the Lakeside Patio on the Coral Gables campus. “Joanna’s family will join us in honoring her life and lasting legacy,” Whitely said.
Jara’s survivors include her parents, Cesar Jara and Lilianna Gutierrez, and sisters Katherine and Andrea Jara. Family services were held in Orlando on Nov. 30.
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 11:10 AM.
