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Update on the loss of an undergraduate student

Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole and Director of Athletics Bernard Muir sent the following message to the campus community on the death of Stanford student Katie Meyer.

official Stanford Athletics portrait of Katie Meyer in her soccer uniform

Katie Meyer (Image credit: Stanford Athletics)

Dear students, faculty and staff,

We are writing to follow up on this message about the death of one of our undergraduate students in a campus residence. It is with great sadness that we report that Katie Meyer, a senior majoring in International Relations and minoring in History, a Resident Assistant, and a team captain and goalkeeper on the Stanford Women’s Soccer Team, has passed away. Please join us in offering our deepest condolences to her parents and sisters. We would also like to extend our heartfelt condolences to Katie’s friends, hallmates, classmates, teammates, faculty and coaches. University counseling staff have been on-site at her residence hall, and athletics counseling staff have been working with our student athletes. We will continue to reach out and offer support to the many campus community members who knew her.

Katie was extraordinarily committed to everything and everyone in her world. Her friends describe her as a larger-than-life team player in all her pursuits, from choosing an academic discipline she said “changed my perspective on the world and the very important challenges that we need to work together to overcome” to the passion she brought to the Cardinal women’s soccer program and to women’s sports in general. Fiercely competitive, Katie made two critical saves in a penalty shootout against North Carolina to help Stanford win its third NCAA women’s soccer championship in 2019. Katie was a bright shining light for so many on the field and in our community.

There are no words to express the emptiness that we feel at this moment. We are reaching out to all of you in our community, because this impacts all of us. Please know you are not alone. There are resources available to support us during this difficult time. We can all help by checking in on friends and loved ones. Be caring to yourselves and one another. We will grieve this great loss together, and we will be here for each other. More details about opportunities to remember Katie as a community will be communicated as soon as we are able.

Sincerely,

Susie Brubaker-Cole
Vice Provost for Student Affairs

Bernard Muir
The Jaquish & Kenninger Director of Athletics