University faculty and students are mourning the loss of Marcie Thomason, a 2003 graduate of the McIntire School of Commerce.
Thomason, a Lexington native, graduated from the University with a degree in accounting and Spanish, and was an active member of Delta Zeta sorority and an avid Madison House volunteer.
Thomason was one of 49 victims of a plane crash yesterday at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky. The Comair commuter jet, bound for Atlanta, took off from the wrong runway around 6 a.m., ran into a field and was engulfed by flames. The sole survivor, a co-pilot of the Delta flight crew, remains in critical condition, according to Paul Schlamm, a spokesman for a team of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board.
Thomason's uncle Bill Lear said she spoke fondly of her time at the University.
"She loved it, from the moment she got there to the moment she left," Lear said. "She enjoyed the intellectual challenges there, she enjoyed the social connections she made."
According to Lear, Thomason traveled home from Washington D.C., where she worked as an accountant, to attend her wedding shower and make last-minute preparations for a September wedding to fellow University alumnus Crutchin Powell.
Thomason's sister Melissa graduated from the University last May, and her other sister Laura is currently a second year in the College.
"Neither me or my sister would have ended up at U.Va. had it not been for Marcie," Laura said. "So much of what was amazing about Marcie was that she taught us how to be great people."
University professors and faculty agreed that Thomason contributed greatly to the University community through her academic and extracurricular pursuits.
"I remember that she was very involved, very engaged," said McIntire Dean Carl Zeithaml, who taught Thomason in the Fall 2001 semester. "She was always there ready to participate, involved in the class, and was a great contributor to the classroom discussions and experience."
Commerce Prof. Ryan Nelson, who taught COMM 301, "Strategy in Systems" with Zeithaml, said Thomason will be best remembered for her outgoing personality.
"I remember her as being very friendly, and can even picture her great smile," Nelson said. "I can still remember where she sat in the classroom."
Zeithaml joined his colleagues in expressing sorrow for this tragedy.
"She was a great asset to our community," Zeithaml said. "It's very tragic, what's happened."
According to Schlamm, the NTSB must finish examining the wreckage, conducting interviews and collecting records on the aircraft and the pilots before they can determine the cause of the accident.
Schlamm added that a voice recorder and flight data recorder have been retrieved and were shipped to Washington, D.C. for further investigation.
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