University Of Virginia Awards Posthumous Degrees To Three Murdered Football Players

The University of Virginia has awarded posthumous degrees to three football players killed last month in a shooting on campus.

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Programs Rachel Most made the request on behalf of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry.

The degrees were presented to each player’s family by Director of Athletics Carla Williams, who delivered them along with President Jim Ryan and other university officials.

“It was a great honor to be a part of presenting these diplomas to the families of Devin, Lavel and D’Sean,” Williams said.

Davis was a third-year student from Ridgeville, South Carolina, who majored in African American and African studies. His teammate Chandler was a sophomore from Huntersville, North Carolina, pursuing a degree in American studies.

Perry, a six-foot, three-inch, 230-pound linebacker from Miami, Florida, was a double major in studio art and in African American and African studies, according to the university.

The three players were killed during a shooting on November 13 while on board a bus returning from a field trip. One other football player, Mike Hollins, and a student, Marlee Morgan, were wounded during the shooting and hospitalized. Both have since been released.

A former player has been arrested. The Daily Wire is not naming the suspected shooter due to a policy against giving notoriety to mass shooters.

The Cavaliers canceled their game against Coastal Carolina University following the shooting. The school instead held a memorial service attended by thousands of students, staffers, and community members that was broadcast on the ACC Network.

“To everyone here I say, we will turn today’s tragedy into tomorrow’s triumph,” Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott said during the service. “We have a mission going forward and that mission requires a tremendous amount of responsibility amidst the pain and suffering there is hope. Weeping is going to last for the night but great joy is coming in the morning. Because of 1, 15, 41, we have the responsibility to rebuild this community and program on the legacy of their stars, and do so in such a way as to bring light unto the world.”

“Lavel, Devin, D’Sean, I’m so looking forward to the strength, motivation, courage and love that you all will provide as we triumph in the days ahead. My young kings, may you celebrate in paradise, and we will celebrate on this side each and every day with the light of your stars,” he added.

Some students at the university’s School of Architecture also sought to pay tribute to the players through physical memorials displayed outside of the ceremony honoring the lives of the three student-athletes.

“We are makers, and we knew we had to make,” said one of the students involved in the effort. “These memorials gave me something meaningful to do when work, life, and existence seemed meaningless.”

Hollins, one of the hospitalized players who was shot, is graduating in December.

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