"Our students, faculty, and alumni are absolutely devastated by this tragedy," said Millsaps President Dr. Frances Lucas-Tauchar.

A graduate of Murrah High School in Jackson, Murray was a Dean's List scholar and a member of the Beta Alpha Psi accounting honorary fraternity. Murray was active in the Student Senate and her sorority, Kappa Delta. A varsity athlete, she also served as co-captain of the Millsaps women's soccer team and represented athletes as a member of the Millsaps Athletic Advisory Committee.

"Murray was one of the most loved and adored people I've ever known. She was a complete original and I will never know anyone else like her," said friend and fellow Millsaps grad Stephanie Land ('99). "She was the truest of friends and is completely irreplaceable. I'm thankful everyday that I was so blessed to have known her and had her as my friend."

Murray participated in many philanthropic activities, including mentorship of inner-city children, volunteering at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center, building houses for Habitat for Humanity, serving meals at Stewpot, and fund-raising to benefit the victims of child abuse.

Murray earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Millsaps in 2000, and was the youngest graduating MBA in her class at Louisiana State University in May 2002. At the time of her death, Murray was slated to begin her career as an Internal Auditor with the Enterprise Risk Services practice of Deloitte & Touche LLP in Atlanta, Ga.

In the aftermath of Murray's death, family, friends and Millsaps community members have scheduled a tribute gathering to be held on August 3 in the Robert and Dee Leggett Special Events Center in the A. Boyd Campbell College Center on the Millsaps campus. The event, which will begin at 7 p.m., will celebrate Murray's life. For more information, contact Alex Woods at (601) 974-1031, 1-86-MILLSAPS, or woodsap@millsaps.edu. Classmates, friends, and family have also asked that a scholarship be established in Murray's name.

"Once funded, the scholarship would be permanent and be a gift to and from her," said Ann Pace, Murray's mother. "Many friends have asked what they can do. Of all things, Murray's family wishes this scholarship to be funded in her name and in her honor - a legacy of love for that very brave and very beautiful young woman."

"If I could tell the future recipients of Murray's memorial scholarship one thing, I would tell them that Murray's life was defined by her choices," said friend and fellow Millsaps alumnus Hayes Bryant ('00). "Her choice to graduate early from high school and pursue a college degree, her choice to add sports to an already demanding academic schedule, and her choice to transcend cultural and social boundaries to include hundreds of people in her circle of friends. None of these choices made her life easier, but they made it more whorthwhile. It is that young person's choice, now, whether or not to expand her own horizons with the opportunity that has been given to her."

Memorial donations may be made to:

Murray Pace Endowed Scholarship Fund
c/o Michele Bunch, Director of Donor Relations
Millsaps College
P.O. Box 151191
Jackson, MS 39210
(601) 974-1026


Photos of Murray