Student killed in accident
St. Edward’s University New College student Arturo M. Garcia Jr. was killed in a single vehicle accident Sunday afternoon.
Garcia, 29, was riding his motorcycle on Ranch Road 337 outside of Leakey, a town 100 miles west of San Antonio, when the accident occurred.
“I believe he was traveling faster than the posted speed limit for that area,” said Real County Sheriff Senior Corporal Jake Sanchez. “It is my belief he came around a curve too fast and lost control of the bike when it left the road.”
The posted speed limit was 55 miles-per-hour. The road is considered a popular, but dangerous, destination among motorcyclists, the Leakey Star reports.
Garcia was ejected from his 2007 Triumph Daytona 675 motorcycle and landed between 25 and 50 feet away from his bike, which was lodged seven feet in the air in a tree, Sanchez said.
Officers responded to a 911 call from a passing motorist. Garcia was air-lifted to Peterson Regional Medical Center in Kerrville, where he was pronounced dead at 3:40 p.m. Sunday.
Sanchez stated that preliminary test results indicated that neither alcohol or drugs were a factor in the accident.
Garcia had enrolled in the New College program at St. Edward’s this semester and was studying business. He was a native of Austin who graduated from Westlake High School.
Garcia is survived by his parents, Alice Castro Garcia and Arturo Garcia Sr., his younger sister, Nicole Garcia and his paternal grandfather, Juan Garcia Jr.
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Whrrl spokeswoman Heather Meeker said that this is the first graduation ceremony Whrrl has covered. She said Whrrl was chosen because it offers a more real experience than other social networks.
“People are inherently less social because of social networking,” Meeker said. “Our goal is to get them back out in the real world.”
Diaz said that traditionalists will not need to worry about students giving Whrrl a whirl.
“There shouldn’t be any disruption to the tradition of commencement,” Diaz said.
Diaz also said the university will have some monitoring capabilities to keep students from posting obscene photos. But, she added, the university hopes it will not be necessary.
“We realize that this gives anyone the opportunity to post something inappropriate,” Diaz said. “We really hope that people will be respectful.”
Commencement Speaker
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick will be the ceremony’s commencement speaker. He accepted the invitation from Martin after winning the approval of the university’s board of trustees.
McCarrick will also be appearing at the Baccalaureate Mass May 7 alongside recently-named Austin Bishop Joe S. Vasquez.
It is unusual for a commencement speaker to agree to participate in the Baccalaureate Mass, Diaz said. It will also be Vasquez’s first Baccalaureate Mass since he was named as a bishop.
McCarrick was one of the 115 cardinals who helped elect fellow cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to the papacy in 2005. Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, has recently come under fire for his role in the Catholic church sex abuse scandal.
McCarrick, a national human rights activist, has been heavily involved in education and supported the creation of Forward in Faith, a Washington D.C.-based opportunity scholarship program helping children from low-income families to attend private schools. He also serves and directs many organizations devoted to humanitarian causes throughout the world.
In his capacity as Archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal McCarrick was chancellor of The Catholic University of America as well as president of the board of trustees at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Graduation ceremonies will begin at 10 a.m. May 8.
