Vigil Held for UMW Student Grace Mann of Falls Church Area

Grace Mann photo courtesy of UMW Feminists United, via Facebook

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Students held a vigil last night on campus for Grace Rebecca Mann, a University of Mary Washington student whose father Thomas Mann is a Fairfax County judge.

Grace was the daughter of Thomas P. Mann, a Fairfax County juvenile and domestic relations judge and Melissa Mann.

A junior at the university, Mann was found unconscious Friday by two roommates at the house they shared in Fredericksburg. She was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

A fourth roommate, Steven Vander Briel, 30, was taken into custody later Friday, police said. He has been charged with first degree murder and abduction. He is being held without bond at the Rappahannock Regional Jail in Stafford.

Students on campus were set to hold the vigil for Mann Saturday night at the university’s Relay for Life, according to UMW Feminists United. The relay was already scheduled but students were going to be holding the vigil to honor Mann:

“With the passing of our fellow student and Feminists United executive board member Grace, we invite all to stop by the James Farmer Statue throughout the day to help us build up a memorial for her and pay your respects.

Later in the evening, around 7:45, we will meet for a few moments of silence, after which we will join the Luminaria ceremony at Relay for Life and walk for Grace.

“Grace lit up our classroom every day,” Kristin Marsh, an associate professor, wrote on the Feminists United of UMW Facebook page. “She was amazing, energetic, and always-passionate about her feminist work.”

The university’s Office of Student Affairs released this statement Saturday:

“It is with great sadness that we report the death of one of our students, Grace R. Mann, a junior from Falls Church, Va. Extensively active on campus, Grace was an executive board member of Feminist United, an active member of PRISM, an appointee to the President’s Task Force on Sexual Assault, a Resident Assistant during her sophomore year, and a member of the Student Government Association Senate. She was a history and American studies major who was pursuing a minor in practical ethics. Under the guidance of her advisor Jess Rigelhaupt, Grace presented with fellow students earlier this month at the annual meeting of Oral History in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The topic was Health Care Delivery, Hospital-Based Medicine, and Narratives of Change at Mary Washington Healthcare”

See posts to social media including a photo of Grace Mann from her Twitter page. To see photos use the blue bar at right to scroll up and down: