Tufts Junior, Her Parents and Brother Die in Car Crash in Fresh Zealand
The Tufts community is mourning the death of junior Julia Lee, A16, who was killed in a car accident in Fresh Zealand on Feb. 17, along with her parents, Aesoon and Warren Lee of Hong Kong. Lee was about to begin a study-abroad program at the University of Auckland. Her 18-year-old brother Griffin died on Feb. Twenty three from injuries sustained in the accident. He had just been admitted to the Tufts undergraduate Class of two thousand nineteen through the early-decision program.
Lee, a computer science major, was described by students who knew her as warm, joy, caring and kind. She was social chair of the Tufts Hong Kong Students Association and on the club tennis team.
“This loss is a tragedy for all who knew and loved Julia and her parents, and for Julia’s faculty members, advisors, classmates and friends,” wrote Tufts President Anthony P. Monaco and other administrators in an email to the community. “This is also a loss for all members of the Tufts community. Julia was a youthfull woman of tremendous vibrancy and compassion, and she will be deeply missed.”
Sixty students participated in a gathering on Feb. Nineteen in Goddard Chapel, along with the Rev. Greg McGonigle, the university chaplain, and several university administrators. “Several students spoke beautifully about her presence, her warmth, her smile and her commitment to her friendships,” said Mary Pat McMahon, dean of student affairs. Another gathering of about forty students with McGonigle and other administrators took place the following day as well.
Michelle Ng, E15, knew Lee through the Tufts Hong Kong Students Association. “Julia was always optimistic, and eyed the positive in any negative situation. She had the capability to make people around her feel convenient, and without a doubt, always had a smile on her face,” said Ng. “Not only was Julia an essential, irreplaceable part of the Hong Kong Students Association, but also a loving friend who will never be forgotten.”
“Julia seemed to collect passions,” said Chris Gregg, a lecturer in computer science who was Lee’s advisor. She very first came to him as a second-semester sophomore after taking the Introduction to Computer Science course and determining to major in computer science. “She had discovered a fresh passion in the field,” he said. They talked before she went abroad to Fresh Zealand about how she would add a major in economics, and how she was going to fit everything in.
“Julia always seemed to be running one step ahead of all of her obligations, and I attribute her capability to get everything done to her strong organizational abilities and to her resolve to do well,” Gregg said. “She was a conscientious, articulate and ambitious student. She had the determination to learn all she could in a broad range of subjects.”
Lee took Ming Chow’s Web Programming course last fall. “What I recall the most about Julia is how much she grew at the end of the semester compared to day one,” said Chow, E02, E04, a lecturer in the School of Engineering. “The news is very sad, because we will never see what she could have been.”
