Reflecting on the week's events; financial assistance
November 22, 2022
Dear Brandeis Community,
As many of us leave campus ahead of the holiday, we are still reeling from Saturday night's accident that injured more than two dozen community members and killed our student Vanessa Mark. Our hearts are with Vanessa's family and friends, and with our injured students and their loved ones. While the effects of this terrible accident will reverberate throughout our community for a long time to come, I want to pause today to express gratitude and share some information.
I know I speak for our entire community when I express our deepest thanks to the numerous first responders who arrived at the crash site on South Street within minutes of the accident. Our own Brandeis Public Safety Officers were among the first on the scene. They were quickly joined by police, fire, and EMS from Waltham and all the towns surrounding us. Please keep our first responders in your thoughts; while they were not injured in the crash, they were witness to something that will be with them for a very long time. We are also grateful to the emergency departments at the nine area hospitals that received our injured students and other passengers. And throughout the last several days, numerous staff members and faculty have made great efforts to embrace and support students and each other.
Most remarkable, though not at all surprising, has been the outpouring of concern from our students and their families, our trustees, neighboring colleges and universities, local elected officials, and especially our alumni. I have heard from many of my colleagues at other institutions this week, and I know that is true for many of us across Brandeis. Our students have been helping their classmates confront injury and tragedy in myriad ways. So many families and alumni have reached out asking how they can help. I also want to make sure any student facing financial hardship related to the accident knows that they may apply for emergency funds; community members who would like to provide financial support to students are encouraged to donate to the fund.
A tragedy of this magnitude affects everyone in different ways, at different times. We want to remind our community that anyone may alert the university to concerns about a student by submitting a Care Report. Key student-facing professionals from diverse departments review care reports, and coordinate the resources of the university to provide students with holistic support.
Finally, we know there are many outstanding questions and a deep desire to understand how such a terrible accident happened. Our students' safety is always our highest priority. We are cooperating with law enforcement's ongoing investigation into Saturday's accident. We are also reviewing all our transportation offerings fully at this time, and will work to keep our community updated.
I hope each of you is able to spend time with those who you cherish most over the next few days. I wish you a peaceful and restorative Thanksgiving holiday.
Sincerely,
Ron Liebowitz