photo courtesy of UVA Today
The three University of Virginia football players who were fatally shot by one of their teammates last month were awarded posthumous degrees after staff members, including the UVA athletic director Carla Williams attended the boys’ funeral. Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr, and D’Sean Perry majored in American Studies, African American & African Studies, and African American & African Studies & Studio Art, respectively. According to UVA Today, Carla Williams was honored to award the three players their degrees.
“It was a great honor to be a part of presenting these diplomas to the families of Devin, Lavel and D’Sean,” She said after the associate dean for undergraduates in the College of Arts & Sciences announced the diplomas in honor of the late students on December 5.
The funerals for Devin, Lavel, and D’Sean were attended by their football teammates, the athletic department heads, and other staff members who felt the loss of the boys’ presence. After talking to the families at each of the ceremonies, it became abundantly clear that it was necessary to honor the boys with their diplomas. Particularly for Lavel Davis, at the November 30th funeral for him, Williams realized
“why earning his degree from the University of Virginia was so important to Lavel. He worked extremely hard for it. It was a great honor to be a part of presenting these diplomas to the families of Devin, Lavel and D’Sean.”As previously reported, the three boys were shot and killed by one of their former teammates, a UVA student Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., on November 13 while they were on a bus back from a class trip in Washington, D.C. Jones has since been charged with three counts of second-degree murder and felony firearm usage, along with other assault and gun-related charges. Jones is being held in Charlottesville.