September 27, 2015
A Penn State 19-year-old sophomore student was killed and six other students were injured in a one-vehicle accident Sunday on the Pennsylvania Turnpike as they were returning from a philanthropic trip, the university announced.
Vitalya "Tally" Sepot, from Branford, Connecticut, was a passenger in the car returning to State College when the accident occurred at 1:49 p.m. in Chester County. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
She and the other students, one from Merion Station, were in the Philadelphia area to solicit donations for THON, a student-run philanthropy devoted to pediatric cancer. The cause of the accident was being investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police, school officials said.
Sepot, who was majoring in graphic design, was part of a group of students from the Alpha Chi Omega sorority and the Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) fraternity.
The six students injured in the accident were transported to Paoli Hospital in Paoli, Pennsylvania, Penn State officials said.
"The Penn State community and all who know the good work done through student involvement in THON are deeply saddened by this tragedy," said Damon Sims, vice president for Student Affairs. "Our hopes are with the students injured, whose release from the hospital we are eager to see, but our hearts are with Tally's family and friends, whose terrible loss we mourn."
The other students were identified as:
• Victoria Barrett, 18, from Gibsonia, Pennsylvania
• Sarah Bixby, 18, from Flemington, New Jersey
• Claire Fountas, 19, from Barrington, Illinois
• Matthew Hrynkow, 20, from Annandale, Virginia
• Brooke Kalodner, 18, from Voorhees, New Jersey
• Max Titlebaum, 20, from Merion Station, Pennsylvania
