Fellow Hawks,
I write to you today with a heavy heart. Early this morning a car accident tragically claimed the lives of two University of Maryland Eastern Shore students and caused two others to have emergency surgery.
A first year 18-year-old female student from Willow Grove, PA, and a 22-year-old third year male unenrolled student from Fayetteville, N.C. were killed this morning when their car was struck by a wrong-way driver on Sussex Highway in Seaford, DE.
Also in the car with them were a 22-year-old male junior from Washington, D.C., and an 18-year-old first-year female student from Bethesda, MD. They both sustained serious injuries and were last reported in critical condition at hospitals in Milford and Seaford, DE.
We are withholding the names of the students out of respect to their families.
We grieve the loss of our UMES students and pray that those injured have a full recovery. This tragedy has taken two promising young people at the very start of their adult lives and deprived our Hawk community, their families, and friends of the dynamic futures they were poised to live.
As I grieve with you, please know that Counseling Services are available to help students, faculty, and staff during this time. I encourage anyone in our Hawk family who needs help to get it. Counseling Services can be found at: 410-651-6449 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, or in person in Suite 2260 of the Student Development Center.
UMES Counseling Services Mental Health Electronic Referral Form
You can also contact our crisis response line 24 hours a day at: 410-651-HELP (4357).
These services are available to help anyone who needs help processing the tragic loss of two of our students and the critical injuries sustained by the others.
Please be especially kind to one another as we grieve this devastating loss together.
In Hawk Pride,
President Heidi M. Anderson
