Boston University College of Arts and Sciences 2009 graduate Katie Tyson, a well-known leader and activist in both Spectrum and Boston’s Arlington Street Church, died earlier this month in a car accident in Colorado near the Wyoming border. She was 21.
Tyson and a friend were heading back July 2nd from the annual General Assembly of Unitarian Universalists in Salt Lake City and had planned to stop in Colorado before continuing home, when a Jeep Liberty heading north on US Highway 287 tried to pass another vehicle just as the lane switched from two to one.
The driver of the Liberty was forced to swerve to the right, hitting the guardrail and sending the car into the southbound lane, colliding head-on with Tyson and her friend, according to Colorado State Patrol. The car was identified with the help of papers inside the car which shows that it was a register car in california. The section where the crash occurred has been the site of many fatal crashes, according to the local newspaper the Coloradoan.
Friends and family remembered Tyson as an incredibly loving person who strived to help others.
‘She was always happy,’ her mother Karen said. ‘She radiated happiness.’
As the inter-organizational coordinator during her time on Spectrum’s e-board, BU’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and allied cultural organization, Tyson was in charge of networking with other northeast and Boston organizations to search for speakers and promote events.
Her parents said her involvement in the group stemmed from her desire for social justice. She was particularly motivated to fight for gay rights after she learned about the murder of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in a hate crime because of his sexual preference, her parents said.
‘I think that was the one that triggered her thinking that, ‘Oh my gosh, we have to do something about this,’ Katie’s father Herb said.
Tyson, who was born in Fairfax, Va. and grew up in Fairfax County, attended Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology, where she graduated magna cum laude.
She went on to major in statistics and minor in music as an undergraduate at BU, and had planned to return for graduate school in the fall to study biostatistics. Tyson saw biostatistics as a potential philanthropic option, her parents said.
‘[She thought], I can go out and help people by doing this research,’ Herb said. ‘That helped carry her forward.’
Eric Kolaczyk, director of the CAS statistics program, said he was fascinated by Tyson’s ability to combine math and music in her studies. One project Tyson worked on allowed her to observe the frequency of the bells at Boston’s Arlington Street Church.’
‘Math and music have a long history of being intertwined, but it’s not often we get someone who combines the two,’ Kolaczyk said. ‘I thought it was fascinating that she was able to put those two together formally in her studies.’
Despite her interest in statistics, Tyson always had another larger life goal, her parents said. Tyson, who at age six had decided the family needed to join a church, aspired to eventually become a minister in the Unitarian Universalist church, her parents said.
‘Our kid was reading whole books, complicated books when she was three,’ Herb said. ‘I don’t know if she had an agenda all her life, but she always led the way with what she wanted to do.’
Her interest in UU was in part due to the church’s liberal mindset as well as their focus on human rights, her parents said. Tyson was attending the general assembly for her third time before the accident, and had told her friends she was so inspired that she may have to take on her ministry goal earlier than planned.
‘She had kind of a ministry going on [herself], she was out there spreading love and happiness,’ Herb said. ‘I like to think she would have been a strong leader.’
With multiple leadership roles at church and school, Tyson always wanted to do things ‘the correct way,’ Tyson’s roommate College of Arts and Sciences senior Ema Alsina said.
‘She always used perfect grammar and always set a timer when she was cooking,’ Alsina said.
Alsina recalled a t-shirt Tyson would always wear that read something like, ‘Yes, I am the grammar snob about whom your parents warned you.’
‘She was purposeful and would do things in a certain way because she believed it was the best,’ Alsina said.
Tyson continued her involvement with UU in college at Boston’s Arlington Street Church, and had planned to join their Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries and continue her work with the Interfaith Youth Initiative, a program which brings high school students together to talk about what their churches have in common.
‘I think that she enjoyed the people and the culture of activism, social justice and peace,’ Alsina said about Tyson’s involvement in UU.
Alsina said Tyson also loved the church’s music, and sang with ‘perfect pitch’ and a ‘beautiful voice’ when they attended church together. Tyson also sang in BU’s Symphonic Chorus and played the piano.
Aside from her parents Herb and Karen, Tyson leaves her grandmother Lois A. Tyson of Alexandria, Va.
Spectrum hosted a memorial dinner Tuesday for Tyson in the Howard Thurman Center, and a memorial service took place yesterday at Mount Vernon Unitarian Church in Alexandria, where over 300 attendees mourned Katie’s passing. Plans for a second memorial service in Boston in September are underway, but a date has yet to be finalized.
In collaboration with the Unitarian Universalist Churches, Tyson’s family has established The Katie Tyson Fund, with donations going to promote young leadership. Those interested in donating should visit www.mbduua.org
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