The University of Virginia granted posthumous degrees to honor three football players who were shot and killed last month.
The school’s College of Arts & Sciences approved degrees for Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry. All three student-athletes were members of the school’s football team. Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Programs Rachel Most, who was the dean for Davis, Chandler and Perry, initiated the request.
Davis was a third-year student who majored in African American and African Studies. Chandler was a second-year student who majored in American studies. Perry was a fourth-year student who double majored in studio art and African American and African studies.
“It was a great honor to be a part of presenting these diplomas to the families of Devin, Lavel and D’Sean,” athletic director Carla Williams said in a statement.
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Davis, Chandler and Perry were shot and killed on Nov. 13 while aboard a chartered bus after returning from a class trip to Washington, D.C.
Two other students, Mike Hollins and Marlee Morgan, were wounded in the shooting and have since been released from the hospital.
Hollins, another member of Virginia’s football team, is expected to earn his undergraduate degree later this month.
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“Earning his degree from the University of Virginia was so important to Lavel,” Hollins said at Davis’ funeral service in North Charleston, S.C., on Nov. 30. “He worked extremely hard for it.”
The entire UVA football team, Williams, university president Jim Ryan and more representatives of the university attended the funeral services for Davis, Chandler and Perry in their respective hometowns.
