WASHINGTON – A week after a University of Mary Washington student was killed, the campus community is taking time to remember and celebrate her life.
Grace Mann, 20, was found strangled to death in the Fredericksburg house she shared with several roommates last Friday.
One of Mann’s roommates, Steven Vander Briel, is charged with her murder and is being held without bond. Investigators are still working to determine a motive.
“She did everything that she could to show love to everyone she came across,” says Paige McKinsey, president of Feminists United.
Mann was an executive board member for Feminists United and a leader on campus.
“She was filled with passion and determination to create a world that was safer and more inclusive for everyone,” McKinsey says.
Feminists United posted a message on its Facebook page, announcing a celebration of Grace Mann’s life on campus starting at noon Friday.
“She was just so undeniably alive and out to do good work, and I think that’s how she is really being remembered,” McKinsey says.
The student group plans to solicit for donations to the Rappahannock Council Against Sexual Assault. Mann was involved in the council’s work to support victims of sexual assault, according to the Facebook post.
Hundreds gathered in Falls Church Tuesday for Mann’s funeral service.
