A fitting honor for Bianca Roberson
It is the agonizing hunt for the answer to a question for which there is to this point no good answer.
It is the one that haunts the family of Bianca Roberson. Why? Why was such a promising, vibrant young life snuffed out in such a vile, horrific moment of violence.
Roberson, the recent Rustin High School grad who was just a few weeks away from embarking on her college career in Jacksonville, Fla., was returning from a shopping trip – actually picking up some new clothes for school – when she came face-to-face with an evil that is increasingly a menace to all of us. Road Rage. Roberson was gunned down when a man for some unknown reason decided to settle what appeared to be a routine traffic dispute with a gun.
The case drew national attention – and headlines. After an intense 48-hour search, and a national alert for a red pickup truck, a suspect turned himself in. Case closed. Except for that agonizing question. Why? We still don’t know. But what we do know is the loss all of us feel. The loss of a promising young life. And the loss of one more aspect of what we would like to believe is a civilized society, one capable of comporting oneself within the rules, without resorting to violence, let alone the unthinkable: Deciding to settle a simple traffic dispute with a gun.
David Desper, the Delaware County man charged with firstdegree murder and a slew of other charges in the case, faces a hearing later in August.
That does little to comfort Roberson’s family, and really all of us struggling for an answer for what is really unanswerable. It is not as a victim that we choose to remember Bianca Roberson.
Society has all too many of those.
Instead, we turn to something being done by her school and those who knew and loved her best, as a lasting legacy.
The West Chester Area School District is establishing a scholarship fund in Bianca Roberson’s memory.
Monday night, before their regularly scheduled meeting, the West Chester Area School District School Board held a moment of silence in Roberson’s memory.
Board President Chris McCune, in noting that Roberson was “one of our own,” said “there is nothing we can do to bring her back, but to honor her memory.”
Yes, we will continue to look back, in particular at what was lost, but we also will look forward, and know that Roberson’s legacy continues to resonate through the West Chester Area School District.
The board indicated a committee will solicit private donations and hold fundraisers in the name of Roberson. Scholarship recipients will be selected based on criteria agreed to by the Roberson family and a local school committee, including the Rustin principal and assistant principal, along with other staff members who may have known Roberson.
In addition, a scholarship fund is being established in the name of Bianca, as well as a brother, Mykel, at Jacksonville University.
Our hope is that such a senseless death would shock people into the realities of road rage, of what can happen in an instant. Our fear is that it will not. The next time you are inclined to raise your voice in anger, perhaps fly off the handle at something playing out in front of you on the roadway, take a deep breath instead – and remember Bianca Roberson.
And maybe make a donation to the scholarship set up in her name
Bianca Roberson was taken from us in a moment of madness.
Perhaps the most fitting legacy would be that her senseless death could shock us into the realization of just how fragile life is – and how quickly it can be snatched away. • Those wishing to make a donation to the Roberson Scholarship Fund can do so by submitting checks made out to West Chester Area School District with Bianca Roberson Scholarship Fund in the memo section. Checks can be mailed to Dr. Mike Marano, Rustin High School, 1100 Shiloh Road, West Chester PA 19382.