Two CU Boulder students hit by drunk driver near campus

About half past midnight on Sept. 9, University of Colorado Boulder students Anthony Maravi and Jasmine Floyd walked back to campus from a fraternity party — not knowing their stroll, two weeks into the fall semester, would turn a time of excitement into one of anger and frustration.

As the two walked down the sidewalk along Broadway, a suspected drunken driver in a Ford Focus mishandled a U-turn at a nearby intersection, jumped the curb and headed directly toward the pair, according to a Boulder Police Department report.

“My first thought was to get out of the way, obviously,” said Maravi, recounting the crash in an interview. “I just stepped back and I can see that she’s frozen, about to get hit by the car.”

Maravi dove in front of the vehicle to try to shield Floyd from harm. He said he does not remember exactly what happened next, but his mother Jenny Garces said investigators determined Maravi flipped up onto the windshield after the initial impact and Floyd was flung about 50 feet from the vehicle.

“The doctors said that I did save her life,” Maravi said. “But I don’t know how I helped her.”

The crash severely impacted the students’ ability to immediately return to school, and their parents say they were frustrated by efforts to get information from CU officials about the students’ options.

Maravi suffered a lacerated liver, a broken arm and other assorted injuries. Floyd suffered multiple broken bones, a concussion and significant mental trauma that will require extensive counseling, according to her mother.

Kelly Floyd flew to Colorado from her home in California to be with her daughter while she was in the hospital. While in the state, she attempted to contact CU to figure out how her daughter’s schooling and expenses would be handled while she was receiving medical care back home. Given the severity of the incident, she figured the university would be willing to help them figure out the best way to navigate the situation.

But university officials did not return her calls, she said.

“They send all these welcoming letters for mental health for your student, for getting acclimated to the change (of college),” Kelly Floyd said. “Every single welcome letter, ‘If you have any questions, please contact us.’ Well, I contacted every single one of those, every single phone number, and nobody contacted me back.”

Garces was having similar issues trying to get in touch with someone to handle her son’s case.

“Nobody contacted us. (When we called) they were just bouncing us around from one place to another one,” Garces said.

After days of receiving no information, Garces and Kelly Floyd went to campus on Sept. 13 to try to talk to an administrator in person.

“It took me having to go down to Case Management and blow a fuse with the receptionist who just continued to tell me that, ‘Well, Case Management is dealing with other situations that are very important right now,’” Kelly Floyd said. “I said, ‘Yeah, I heard that from the last lady and I’m telling you right now this is very pressing.’ Two kids, two students, almost died and nobody has contacted us.”

Eventually, Floyd was able to speak with the assistant director of Case Management and learned about the two options at her disposal: apply for an exception for medical disenrollment, or withdraw her daughter from the university altogether.

Medical exceptions to the withdrawal and refund deadline are generally approved, but not necessarily guaranteed, CU Boulder Assistant Vice Provost and University Registrar Kristi Wold-McCormick said in a written statement.

The day the two mothers visited the Case Management office happened to be the last day students could withdraw this semester while still being eligible for a full refund. The Floyds applied for the medical exception, but rather than taking the chance of still having to pay a semester’s worth of college expenses, they decided to fully withdraw Jasmine Floyd from the university.

But this decision means that if Jasmine Floyd wants to come back to Boulder in the spring, she’ll need to fully reapply as if she were a new student and undergo the university admissions process a second time.

“How fair is that?” Kelly Floyd said. “Something is wrong. She didn’t choose any of this.”

Wold-McCormick, in her statement, noted that she could not discuss individual cases, but said, “Our community should know that the university has support resources for students going through challenging situations.”

Maravi and Jasmine Floyd were both discharged from the hospital after several days. Maravi, whose family recently moved to Boulder from Pueblo, opted to return to his classes; Jasmine Floyd left with her mother for her home in California to receive further medical treatment, and currently remains interested in continuing her education at the university in the future.

“This was her dream school since she was 14, and she might have to reapply even though she’s the same student,” Maravi said. “Like it’s not our fault that he was driving drunk.”

Family and friends of the two students have launched GoFundMe campaigns to help raise money to cover their medical expenses: Jasmine Floyd and Anthony Maravi.

Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.

Share this:

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

• Policies
• Report an Error
• Contact Us
• Submit a News Tip

• 2023
• October
• 2

Most Popular

• Kiszla: You better believe CU’s Shedeur Sanders is better quarterback than Heisman winner Caleb Williams

  Kiszla: You better believe CU's Shedeur Sanders is better quarterback than Heisman winner Caleb Williams

• Kiszla: Broncos didn’t win game for Sean Payton, they averted another crisis of grumpy coach’s making.

  Kiszla: Broncos didn't win game for Sean Payton, they averted another crisis of grumpy coach's making.

• Keeler: CU Buffs receiver Omarion Miller sealed place in Boulder lore with kiss from Michael Irvin and love from Michael Westbrook. “Y’all haven’t seen nothing yet.”

  Keeler: CU Buffs receiver Omarion Miller sealed place in Boulder lore with kiss from Michael Irvin and love from Michael Westbrook. "Y'all haven't seen nothing yet."

• Broncos four downs: Over 20 minutes, QB Russell Wilson and Vance Joseph’s much-maligned defense save Denver’s season

  Broncos four downs: Over 20 minutes, QB Russell Wilson and Vance Joseph's much-maligned defense save Denver's season

• How it Happened: Broncos win first game of Sean Payton era with huge fourth-quarter comeback over Bears

  How it Happened: Broncos win first game of Sean Payton era with huge fourth-quarter comeback over Bears

• Teen shot and killed during homecoming celebration at Southlands Mall in Aurora

  Teen shot and killed during homecoming celebration at Southlands Mall in Aurora

• Justice Department sues Colorado for allegedly segregating people with disabilities

  Justice Department sues Colorado for allegedly segregating people with disabilities

• USC coach Lincoln Riley, Trojans players heap praise on Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes

  USC coach Lincoln Riley, Trojans players heap praise on Deion Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes

• Lauren Boebert escorted out of “Beetlejuice” musical in Denver after “causing a disturbance”

  Lauren Boebert escorted out of "Beetlejuice" musical in Denver after "causing a disturbance"

• Uplands finally breaks ground on contested farmland in Westminster

  Uplands finally breaks ground on contested farmland in Westminster

Trending Nationally

• Tim Wakefield, beloved Red Sox pitcher and broadcaster, passes away
• NYPD detective who drove through George Floyd protesters yells at CCRB prosecutor
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom picks Laphonza Butler as Feinstein’s Senate replacement
• N.Y. state police issue Amber Alert for missing 9-year-old girl
• Man known for pursuing sexual predators shot to death in Michigan restaurant

Source: Read Full Article