December 18, 2015
A sophomore at Ursinus College was struck by a car and killed Thursday as she walked near the Montgomery County campus, college officials announced.
Michelle Buck, of Herndon, Va., died from injuries sustained when she was hit along Main Street, near College Avenue, in Collegeville.
“It is tragic when we lose a member of the Ursinus family,” said President Brock Blomberg, in a message to the campus. “Please join me in keeping her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. I encourage all of us to find comfort and support in one another during this trying time.”
Buck, a Dean's List student who played in the string ensemble, had an interest in neuroscience and in philosophy, the school said in a statement, which included several remembrances by her professors.
Joel Bish, associate professor of psychology, recalls Michelle as a “delightful student” who was “quiet and unassuming, diligent and respectful.” She had begun to talk about her research interests and he hoped she would be involved in his lab. “She will be missed,” he added.
Michelle was a student in the Common Intellectual Experience with Kelly Sorensen, assistant dean and associate professor of philosophy and religion. He said the class was together for both semesters and the group got to know one another well.
“Michelle was fiercely intelligent and an excellent writer,” he said. “She was the student in the room who would reply to over-optimistic thinking with acerbic realism. She was full of intellectual backbone, but she always listened carefully and respectfully to her classmates.” Sorensen noted that Michelle had studied abroad in Prague last summer, “an experience she pursued with her typical adventurousness, independence, and perceptiveness.”
College officials said counselors and student affairs staff are available Friday – and throughout the winter break – for anyone in the campus community.
Today Ursinus mourns the loss of one of our own, Michelle Buck ’18. You will always be remembered. https://t.co/PRKrqXjRJi
— Ursinus College (@UrsinusCollege) December 18, 2015
