On the first anniversary of the tragic shooting deaths of three student athletes, the University of Virginia will hold an event focuses on individual and community recovery in the aftermath of gun violence.
On Nov. 13, 2022, D’Sean Perry, Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr., were shot and killed by a fellow student after returning from a class field trip to Washington, D.C.
The speakers for the Nov. 13 “Beyond Boundaries: A Campus-Community-Nation Dialogue on Healing from Gun Violence” event include Happy Perry, the mother of D’Sean Perry, who will speak on a panel about how their family has been impacted by the death of her son and stories of their healing.
The public is invited to the event which runs from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Registration is requested.
The event, hosted by the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, will be held at Old Cabell Hall. Bells will chime at 12:55 p.m. in memory of the three men.
The panel of speakers includes:
- A’Dorian Murray-Thomas: Founder and CEO of SHE Wins, Inc., a leadership and mentoring organization for women and girls who, like her, lost a loved one to gun violence.
- Kevin Parker: A former member of the House of Representatives in Washington State, an entrepreneur and a leadership instructor for members of the Armed Services, undergraduate and MBA students. He is a survivor of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting and travels internationally sharing lessons learned from the tragedy.
- Happy Perry: Mother of D’Sean Perry, one of the three UVA football players who were killed. She continues to fight against gun violence, and the Perry family has established the D’Sean Emir Perry Spirit of the Cavaliers Foundation to support community causes important to D’Sean.
- Tracy Walls: A University of Georgia former student athlete who lost her eldest son, Edgar J. Utley, to gun violence.
Frank Dukes will moderate the panel. Dukes is a facilitator with UVA’s Institute for Engagement & Negotiation and founded University & Community Action for Racial Equity to address UVA’s legacy of slavery and white supremacy. He currently chairs the board of the nonprofit anti-hate group, Not In Our Town.
The panel is part of a weekend of programming by the Batten School to convene people from Central Virginia to understand the issues and encourage coordinated and collaborative efforts that generate useful strategies, practices and policies to better resolve conflict, lessen the likelihood of violence, assist with healing and recovery and enhance overall community well-being.
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Crystal Graham
