University of Virginia honors slain football players with special gesture

It won't bring them back, and it won't make the pain go away. When we lose people to tragedy, any and all gestures mean something, though. 

With that said, what the University of Virginia has done for the families, friends and loved ones of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D'Sean Perry is both notable and honorable.

ESPN's Andrea Adelson reports that Virginia is honoring the three slain football players with posthumous degrees. Their degrees will come from UVA's College of Arts & Sciences at the request of Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Programs Rachel Most.

The three student-athletes were killed on Nov. 13 as they returned from a class trip to Washington D.C. They were shot and killed on a charter bus full of UVA students. Two other students were shot but survived: Mike Hollins, who plays running back for Virginia, and Marlee Morgan.

"It was a great honor to be a part of presenting these diplomas to the families of Devin, Lavel and D’Sean," UVA athletic director Carla Williams said in a press release from the school. Williams, school President Jim Ryan and the whole UVA football team were among those who attended each of the player's funerals in their respective hometowns.

Davis, from Ridgeville South Carolina, was majoring in African American and African Studies. Chandler, from Huntersville, North Carolina, was majoring in American studies. Perry, from Miami Florida, was a double major in studio art and African American and African studies.

Hollins, who survived the shooting, will earn his undergraduate degree this month.