Campus mourns loss of undergrad killed in March 16 bus accident

Cornell junior Michelle A. Evans, 21, was killed in a tragic bus accident March 16 on campus. She was struck by a Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) bus near the intersection of Wait and Thurston avenues.

"The entire Cornell community mourns the loss of one of our students," said President Hunter Rawlings following her death. "Our hearts and prayers go out to her family and to her many friends here on campus."

TCAT bus driver Timothy T. Stranger, 37, has been charged by Ithaca Police with the following in connection with the accident: operating a commercial vehicle with a blood alcohol content between .04 and .07 percent; operating a commercial vehicle while under the influence of alcohol; operating a bus within four to six hours after consuming an intoxicating liquor or drug; operating a bus with passengers forward of the standing line; and failure to use due care to a pedestrian.

Stranger has been suspended from his employment by Cornell. The Ithaca Police Department is continuing its investigation and is asking for witnesses to the incident to call its investigations office at 272-9973.

A funeral service for Evans was planned for today at 11 a.m. at the Lakewood Funeral Home in Lakewood, N.J.

Michelle Evans graduated in 1997 from St. Michael Academy in New York City and was ranked first in her class. She was accepted to Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences under the early decision program and received the Macy Minorities in Medicine Program National Macy Scholar Award upon her admission. A pre-med biology major, she participated in the Black Biomedical and Technology Association premedical programs, and she recently was accepted to work this summer at the Weill Medical College of Cornell in New York City, where she previously had shadowed physicians during her winter breaks.

In the wake of her death, Cornell is offering individual support for students and other members of the community through a number of offices, including: Cornell United Religious Work, 255-4214; Office of Minority Educational Affairs, 255-3841; Counseling and Psychological Services, 255-5208; Empathy, Assistance and Referral Service, 255-EARS (255-3277); Office of the Dean of Students, Student Support, 255-3608; Employee Assistance Program, 255-1531. The Community Development department of Campus Life also provides support to students on campus through residence directors and other staff in residence halls and program houses.

Individual colleges also can provide support to students through each college's academic advising and student services office. And for students associated with the Office of Minority Educational Affairs/Committee on Special Educational Projects (COSEP), there is an associate in each college.

The dean of students office will coordinate community support meetings Monday, March 27, and Tuesday, March 28, when students return from break -- the schedule is being sent via an all-student e-mail. One meeting will be for those who witnessed the accident or who were on the bus or at the scene; other meetings will be for people in community groups with which Evans was affiliated. These community support meetings are available for all members of the Cornell community, even those who did not know her personally. "The whole Cornell community is affected by this tragic loss," said Dean of Students John Ford.

For more information about community support, contact the Office of the Dean of Students, Student Support, at 255-3608.

A campus memorial service for Michelle Evans is being planned for next week -- and the time and place also will be announced in a variety of locations, including in all-student e-mail. Members of the community are invited to participate in the planning of the service. For more information, contact Janet Shortall, associate director of Cornell United Religious Work, at 255-4214; e-mail: js58@cornell.edu.