Brandeis Swimming Cancels Tufts Dual Meet After Bus Crash Kills 1, Injures 26 Students

Originally published Nov 20, 2022

Brandeis University canceled a men’s and women’s swimming & diving dual meet scheduled for Sunday afternoon after a shuttle bus crash left one student dead and 26 others injured. The school also canceled classes on Monday and Tuesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

A letter from Brandeis President Ron Liebowitz on Sunday identified the student who died as Vanessa Mark, who was on leave from the university at the time of the crash. Identities of the 26 injured students have not all been revealed.

The crash happened late on Saturday when a shuttle bus carrying students back from a hockey game at nearby Northeastern University crashed into a tree in Waltham, Massachusetts.

The driver was also injured. So far, no charges have been filed, and the cause of the crash is under investigation.

Authorities did not immediately release the identities of those hurt in the crash, but said that they were of “varying degrees.”

The press release announcing the cancellation of the meet reads:

Due to the tragic events of Saturday evening involving the crash of a campus shuttle, the swimming and diving meet scheduled for noon on Sunday, November 20^th, between Brandeis and Tufts has been cancelled.

We encourage all Brandeis students to join Brandeis leadership and the Student Union in gathering as a community at 11 a.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center or to visit the Brandeis Counseling Center.

Brandeis returns to competition from December 2-4 at the Gompei Invitational hosted by WPI. The meet was due to be the season opener for Tufts, who will instead start their year officially from December 2-4 at the MIT Invitational.

Brandeis and Tufts are both NCAA Division III schools.