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Dear Members of the Colgate University Community: We are writing with the heartbreaking news that two first-year students were killed in a small plane crash this afternoon near Hamilton. Cathryn Depuy and Ryan Adams, both members of the Class of 2019, were on board a Cessna that went down near Morrisville. We extend our deepest sympathy to their families, friends, and classmates. Counseling support is available at the chapel beginning this evening. We ask the community to come together to support one another in this difficult time.
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
Reconstructed based on multiple news accounts confirming Colgate made counselors available 'two days after the crash,' though the initial notification likely went out the evening of September 20; the university confirmed the identities of both students in its communications
The crash occurred on a Sunday afternoon in late September 2015; the aircraft took off from Hamilton Municipal Airport, which is approximately 3 miles from the Colgate campus; the crash site was about 7 miles from the airport in the town of Eaton
Colgate had approximately 3,000 students in 2015; the loss of two freshmen in the first weeks of the academic year had immediate impact on the first-year cohort and residence hall communities