We at The Lafayette would like to extend our thoughts and prayers towards Aubrey Baumbach’s friends and family as she remains in intensive care.

Freshman year should be filled with adventure, meeting new people, and self-discovery. When one of our own has this critical life experience interrupted and put in jeopardy with disaster, pain, and suffering, it affects us all. Friends should not have to witness a friend injured so terribly. Families should never have to pick up the phone to hear that their daughter was in an accident.

Perhaps what is most sickening of all is that this terrible incident should never have occurred.

Men who have been charged with vehicular crimes should not be able to repeat them again and again. The law did what it could—Wilson Kneebone’s license was suspended. He wasn’t supposed to be behind the wheel. But he was.

It’s a sobering notion that everything that could have been done to prevent this was done. Aubrey was walking on the right side of the road. She wasn’t alone, she was with friends, and she was at what one would expect to be a safe distance from the road. The law had suspended Wilson Kneebone’s license.

But it happened anyway. Wilson got in the Jeep’s driver’s seat and sped down Lehigh Drive with little care afforded to those who might be in his path.

There was nothing Aubrey could have done.

Incidents like this only remind us of the fragility of our own delicately bound lives. Aubrey could have been anyone, can be anyone. Aside from our innate compassion towards other human beings, it’s that reminder that hits us hardest. When tragedies like this happen to someone in the Lafayette community, we all feel the ripple effects. Being united by a school this size provides us with an unacknowledged sense of empathy towards each other.

Aubrey’s freshman year has, at the very least, been horribly interrupted. As she lies in critical condition, it’s only appropriate that we not only do anything we can to provide support for her return, but also appreciate the basic opportunities given to us by our own health and ability.

To Aubrey: we hope to see you soon.

Signed,

The Lafayette staff