The three University of Virginia football players killed in a shooting last month have been awarded posthumous degrees, according to school officials.
D’Sean Perry, Devin Chandler, and Lavel Davis Jr. were killed on November 13 when a gunman opened fire on a charter bus returning to campus from a class trip to see a play in Washington, D.C. Two other students injured in the shooting were treated and released from the hospital.
After a manhunt, the suspect, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., was taken into custody and charged with murder.
The athletes’ posthumous degrees were approved by departments in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Provost. The printed degrees were presented to Director of Athletics Carla Williams, who, along with University President Jim Ryan and other UVA Athletics and University representatives, attended each player’s hometown funeral.
Davis, a wide receiver from Ridgeville, South Carolina, was a third-year student majoring in African American and African studies.
Williams said it was clear in talking with his family “why earning his degree from the University of Virginia was so important to Lavel.”
“He worked very hard for it,” she said.
Chandler, a wide receiver, was also a second-year student from Huntersville, North Carolina.
He had transferred to Virginia’s program from the University of Wisconsin.
“He had a lasting impact on his teammates, even after he left UW, which is a testament to the type of person he was,” said Jim Leonhard, the interim Badgers coach.
Perry, a linebacker from Miami, was a fourth-year student. He majored in studio art as well as African American and African studies.
His parents, Sean and Happy Perry said, “Football and art was his passion, but the love he had for his family, friends and his community was proven time and time again through his candid dedication.”
“It was a great honor to be a part of presenting these diplomas to the families of Devin, Lavel, and D’Sean,” Williams said in a statement Monday.
