Drexel Alum Emily Selke Killed in German Plane Crash

Emily Selke via Facebook

The Germanwings plane that crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday claimed the lives of all 150 people on board, including 2013 Drexel University graduate Emily Selke.

According to reports, Selke and her mother were the two Americans killed in the crash. Both lived in the Washington D.C. area.

The Gamma Sigma Sigma Zeta chapter at Drexel University released the following statement:

Zeta chapter is mourning the loss of our beautiful alumni, Emily Selke. Emily and her mother were abroad the plane from Barcelona to Düsseldorf that crashed yesterday. Emily served as our membership VP while in Zeta and she was an integral part of our growing chapter. She embodied the spirit of Gamma Sigma Sigma. As a person and friend, Emily always put others before herself and cared deeply for all those in her life. Emily will be greatly missed by her fellow sisters of Zeta. Please keep Emily, her mother and their family in your thoughts and prayers during this heartbreaking time.

Selke worked as a community manager for Carr Workplaces in Alexandria, Virginia, since January 2014, according to her LinkedIn page, and she worked with the Pittsburgh Fringe Festival shortly after graduating. While at Drexel, she was the vice-president of membership for the Gamma Sigma Sigma sorority, and she wrote music reviews for a student-run entertainment blog, including this review of a 2013 performance of popular Philadelphia band Man Man at Union Transfer. In 2010, she was the recipient of the university’s A.J. Drexel Scholarship as well as the National Naval Officers’ Association Scholarship.

Selke’s mother was reportedly a defense contractor for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, an offshoot of the Pentagon.

The Germanwings plane was flying from Barcelona to Düsseldorf when it crashed into the mountains at an estimated 430mph, obliterating the entire plane. Among the dead were six crew members and 144 passengers. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

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