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Fourth-year student dies in boating accident
Fourth-year College student Casey Schulman died upon arrival at a local hospital on the Caribbean Island of Dominica Saturday after being struck by a boat.
Her friends would remember her as a loving individual whose smile could light up a room, second-year Architecture student Allie Iaccarino said. “She never spoke a bad word about anyone and always lent a helping hand,” Iaccarino said.
The 22-year-old Foreign Affairs major had spent 14 weeks with the University’s Semester at Sea program and was set to return to the United States this upcoming Friday.
Schulman and other students organized and embarked on a snorkeling trip Saturday afternoon independent from Semester at Sea activities, according to a University-wide email sent out Saturday evening by Vice President Patricia Lampkin, the University’s Chief Student Affairs Officer.
The group of students hired a boat for the excursion, and Schulman was struck by the boat’s propeller as the captain was driving in reverse, an Associated Press reporter said Sunday evening.
A commemorative service was planned aboard the Semester at Sea ship for Sunday evening to honor Schulman.
Schulman was a sister of Alpha Phi sorority, played intramural sports, tutored and worked at The Backyard for several years before the Charlottesville restaurant closed this summer, her mother Margaret Schulman said Sunday afternoon.
“She was the light of everybody’s life; she really just brought the sunshine in the room,” her mother said. “She made the most of every single day. She was probably the kindest person I ever knew.”
