Cedarville University, one of the nation’s largest Christian colleges, is mourning the loss of one of its students, Grace Maxwell, who tragically died in the recent midair collision near Washington, D.C. Maxwell, a junior mechanical engineering major from Wichita, Kansas, was among the 64 passengers on board an American Airlines flight when it collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River. She was returning to Ohio after attending her grandfather’s funeral.

University President Thomas White addressed the heartbreaking loss during a chapel service on Friday, recounting his conversation with Maxwell’s grieving father. “I talked to her dad. I said, ‘What can we do?’ There’s no words that make this okay. There’s nothing that makes this easier. He said, ‘You’re praying people. Pray for us.’” White urged students and faculty to lift the Maxwell family in prayer, reflecting on the profound grief they now bear.

“Can you imagine losing a parent and then, just a week later, losing a child?” White asked. “We grieve and we’re sad, and we don’t know why a young, bright shining star was taken from us way too soon, but we know there’s a God who will make all things new. We grieve, but not as those without hope.”

The university formally announced Maxwell’s passing in an email to students on Thursday, highlighting her faith, academic excellence, and heart for serving others. She had been part of a project team working on a hand-stabilizing device for a differently abled child in Dayton.

“As it says in Psalm 34, ‘When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them and is near the brokenhearted.’ Our hearts are broken, but we come together as a family knowing the Lord hears our cries and is near us at this very difficult time.”

White described Maxwell as someone deeply rooted in faith and devoted to serving others. “There was nobody more ready to go see Jesus than Grace Maxwell,” he said.

Maxwell, who was scheduled to graduate in 2026, leaves behind a legacy of faith and kindness. As the Cedarville community grieves, they hold fast to the hope of Christ, believing in the promise of eternal life and the ultimate restoration of all things.