For most students, returning to college in the fall is a time of renewing old friendships. For many Yale students, however, this year's return to school brings with it painful memories and an irreplaceable loss.
Less than two weeks before the start of school, Ericka Bishop, MC '97, and Frank Engel, ES '95, were killed by a drunk driver in an automobile accident in Newport News, Va. at 2:48 a.m. on Sun., Aug. 20. Also killed in the accident was Radford University student Brian Cothran. Kathleen Gilbreath, ES '97, who was driving, survived but sustained serious injuries, including a bruised pancreas and intestine and a ruptured spleen. She also suffered facial injuries, including a split lip to the chin and internal damage in her mouth. She does not plan to return to Yale this semester.
The driver of the other vehicle, Raul Alcantara, suffered only minor head injuries and was treated and released. Alcantara, 33, had been driving more than 90 m.p.h. the wrong way on Interstate 64. Police officials had received several calls about the vehicle, and state police were already chasing Alcantara when his pick-up hit Gilbreath's car head on.
According to Sergeant Richard Denney of the Virginia State Police, Alcantara is charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of driving under the influence of alcohol, and one count of reckless driving. Jed Engel, younger brother of Frank Engel, said that the court date for the traffic violations is set for Oct. 23 and at that time the court will assign a date for the manslaughter charges.
The news of the deaths saddened students and administrators alike. Bishop, who was 20, was majoring in American Studies and planned to add Italian in preparation for a teaching career. She had planned to go on to graduate school but wanted to spend a summer in Florence first.
Her family remembered her as a person who devoured life and wanted to know everything and everybody. "She read everything - saw every movie that came out," Bishop's mother said. "When she was young, she got dictionaries of every language because she wanted to learn all of them. But what she loved most was people - friends always came first, and she kept in touch with everyone. She had friends all over the world, and we always had enormous phone bills."
Bishop, who was working at Yale's Freshperson Conference, had planned to join her younger step-sister, Lee Lehman-Becker, SM '99, in the fall. "I really looked up to Ricki (Ericka) and part of the reason I wanted to come to Yale was to be with her. We were best friends before our parents got married. Even though we weren't majoring in the same subject, we wanted to take the same classes so that we could help each other out. She was a very generous person - she would help anyone out."
"She had a magnetism that attracted people all over the world," Bishop's grandmother said. Friends who knew Bishop, a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, agreed. "Our class in Morse is really close, and Ericka was a big part of that," Michelle Baden, MC '97, said. "During our freshman year, she would be out on the steps of Durfee, and later, she was always out on the bench in Morse or in the dining hall. She always had her music and the same book which she never opened. She'd have the same book for weeks. She was such a big part of the campus life that it's really hard not to see her around anymore."
Friends of Frank Engel remembered him fondly, both academically and socially. "He had fulfilled the requirements for a triple major in math, economics, and computer science, but he could only double-major at Yale. He was going to University of Virginia on a full scholarship with $10,000 a year. I helped him move in the day before the accident," Jed Engel, Engel's younger brother, said.
Former Stiles Master Traugott Lawler, remembered Engel as "a wonderful guy, tremendously outgoing. He took joy in everything he did - there was a kind of exuberance about him. He was also very close to his family. Frank was the oldest of four children, and he was especially close to his father."
"He was one of the smartest and brightest people and he really thrived on life. We played a lot of basketball outside, and Frank was always ready to go - he didn't even need sneakers. He got as much out of his 21 years as anyone could," said Tom Stevens, ES '96.
"Engel was a really great guy. Having him at a party made it 100 percent better because he made sure that everyone was included. I remember that Frank had a really big room, and I had a really bad room pick. He told everyone that his room had a bad leak and water was always dripping in it, so when my pick came up, I was able to have his room," Harvey Young, ES '97, said.
The funerals for both Engel and Bishop were held on the same day, with Engel's in the morning and Bishop's in the afternoon. Lawler, who attended Engel's funeral, said that several Yale students, past and present, attended both funerals and described the attendance as "enormous - about 300 people were there, and some people couldn't even get into the church. The funerals were really a time to celebrate both Ericka's and Frank's lives, to remember and share memories of them."
Ericka Bishop's family requests that donations be made to the Yale Parents Fund, 55 Whitney Ave., P.O. Box 1890, New Haven, Conn. 06520-1890. Frank Engel's family requests that donations be sent to the Faith to Grow Fund, Resurrection Lutheran Church, 765 J. Clyde Morse Blvd., Newport News, Va. 23601.
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