Remember Daniella Moffson

Share your tributes.

The following message was sent to the Barnard Community on Jan. 19, 2016.

Dear Members of the Barnard Community,

This evening, January 19, at 6:00 p.m., please join with members of the Barnard and Columbia community for a candlelight vigil on Low Plaza in remembrance of our own Daniella Moffson '17, Columbia College student Olivia Erhardt '18, and Abigail Flanagan, General Studies student, CUMC nurse practitioner and Columbia parent. The vigil will begin with the tolling of the chapel bells and will include student speakers from Barnard, Columbia College, General Studies, and the School of Nursing. The University Chaplain will preside, and President Spar and President Bollinger will make remarks. Following the vigil, light refreshments will be served in Sulzberger Parlor, from 7:00-9:00 p.m.

We expect that there may be a significant press presence at the vigil and around campus throughout the day. Please know that you have no obligation to interact with members of the media, and that University staff will be on hand at the vigil to ensure that they maintain respectful boundaries.

As always, if you are in need of support during this difficult time, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Furman Counseling Center (212-854-2092) or the Dean of Studies office (212-854-2024).

Our deepest condolences go out to all those who knew Daniella, Olivia and Abigail. They will be in our thoughts and prayers today, and in the days and weeks ahead.

Respectfully,

Avis Hinkson

Dean of the College

The following message was sent to the Barnard Community on Jan. 14, 2016.

Dear Students,



As you read in President Bollinger's and President Spar's emails on Wednesday evening, Columbia College student Olivia Erhardt and Barnard College student Daniella Moffson died yesterday in a tragic bus accident in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, while on a volunteer mission organized by the humanitarian group Global Brigades. Abigail Flanagan, a General Studies student and nurse practitioner at CUMC, and the mother of Columbia College student Patrick Flanagan, was also killed.



This service trip involved students from all four of the undergraduate schools. Many of the students are still in Honduras. Columbia staff members have arrived in Tegucigalpa to provide on-the-ground support to students, and we are working collectively to ensure their safe return home.



We are all saddened by this tragedy, and we encourage you to rely on one another and your families and friends, as well as school and University offices for support. Please know that your advisers and deans, the staff at Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) and Furman Counseling Center, and members of the Office of the University Chaplain, are all available to provide you with any support you may need in dealing with this tragedy. We have listed their contact information for you below.



The University will hold a candlelight vigil at 6 p.m. Tuesday, January 19, on Low Plaza, for the Columbia community to reflect and to remember Olivia, Daniella and Abigail. The University will also fly flags at half-staff that day in recognition of this great loss to our community.



The Lerner Piano Lounge will be available as a place for students to come together on Saturday, January 16, and Monday, January 18, between 2 and 4 p.m. Later in the semester, we will work with families and friends to plan additional memorial services.



Our deepest condolences go out to all who knew Olivia, Daniella and Abigail. They will be in our thoughts in the days and weeks ahead.



Peter J. Awn

Dean

School of General Studies



Mary C. Boyce

Dean of The Fu Foundation School

of Engineering and Applied Science



Avis E. Hinkson

Dean of the College

Barnard College



James J. Valentini

Dean of Columbia College and

Vice President for Undergraduate Education



Staff, administrators and faculty are here to support you. As a reminder, the following resources are also available:



• Columbia Counseling and Psychological Services - (212) 854-2878

* CPS will be open today (Thursday) until 7 p.m., tomorrow (Friday) 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 2-6 p.m. and Monday from 2-7 p.m.

* CPS satellite offices in the residence halls and the IRC will resume normal operations on Tuesday; schedules will be posted on the Columbia Health website.



• Furman Counseling Center (212-854-2092)

*Furman will be open today (Thursday) until 5 p.m., tomorrow (Friday) 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and will reopen on Tuesday at 9 a.m. An on-call clinician is available after hours and on weekends at 855-622-1903.



• Columbia Health (212-854-7426)



• Office of the University Chaplain (212-854-1493)



• CC/SEAS Advising Deans (212-854-6378)



• GS Office of the Dean of Students (212-854-2881)



• Barnard Dean of Studies office (212-854-2024)



• CC/SEAS Residential Life staff (917-881-7233)

The following message was sent to the Barnard Community on Jan. 13, 2016.

Dear Members of the Barnard Community,

It is with deep sadness that we write to share tragic news. We are heartbroken to report that Daniella Moffson ‘17, Olivia Erhardt CC’18 and Abigail Flanagan, a nurse practitioner at the Columbia University Medical Center and a General Studies student, was killed in a bus accident today in Honduras. They were traveling with 25 other Barnard and Columbia students as part of a trip sponsored by Global Brigades, a non-profit student-led organization of volunteers dedicated to improving under-resourced communities around the world.

Four other Barnard students were on the trip, and we are relieved to report that they are safe and expected home soon. We know that a number of the other students were injured, and our colleagues at Columbia are in the process of determining the full extent of the injuries sustained by their students. Columbia medical and support personnel are traveling to Honduras overnight to provide additional on-site assistance.

We know that this news is extraordinarily upsetting. During this difficult time, if you need support or counseling, please know that staff members in the Furman Counseling Center (212-854-2092), Dean of Studies office (212-854-2024) and Human Resources (212-854-2551) stand ready to assist students, faculty, and staff.

We will provide further information to the community as it becomes available. For now, we join with all members of our community in mourning Daniella, Olivia, and Abigail, and send our deepest condolences to their families, friends, and colleagues.

Respectfully,

President Debora Spar

Dean Avis Hinkson