Brandeis University remembers student killed in crash as 'cherished member' of community
WALTHAM - A grieving Brandies University community came together Sunday, hours after a horrific bus crash claimed the life of one of their classmates and left more than two dozen others hurt.
"I know that a lot of people are hurting right now. I'm just trying to, the circles that I can get to, that I can affect, I'm trying to get to everyone, make sure they are okay," student Ritchie Impert-Studen told WBZ-TV.
Undergraduate student Vanessa Mark died when a university shuttle bus slammed into a tree near campus late Saturday night.
Twenty-six students and the driver were hurt.
The bus was operating as part of a regular shuttle loop to Cambridge and Boston. There were originally reports that the bus was coming back from a hockey game at Northeastern University, but Brandeis officials said that was not the case.
Brandeis president Ron Liebowitz said in a letter to campus that Mark was "currently on leave," but added that she was living in Waltham and "was an active and cherished member of the Brandeis community."
Danya Tribuna has friends who were on the bus and were injured.
"Some of them are okay. They showed up to the community gathering and were incredibly shaken and few I have not heard from, I know that they are okay through mutual friends," she told WBZ.
"Thoughts and prayers are with the families, especially during Thanksgiving."
A vigil will be held Monday night at 7 at the chapel on campus. Brandeis canceled classes for Monday and Tuesday so students could go home earlier for Thanksgiving break.
"I think it's definitely a good move, no reason to continue with courses during this time," said senior Ava Shusterman.
"It's a really good move on the school's part," student Alexandra Diener told WBZ. "People are not going to perform their best anyways. It's important for professors to have that empathy for their students and to acknowledge their students are fellow people too and that they need time."
