Harvard Law School Shares Tributes to Kiah Duggins, Civil Rights Attorney Killed in the D.C. Plane Crash: 'She Was the Best of Us'

Mar. 15, 2025

Kiah Duggins.Photo:Civil Rights Corps

Civil Rights Corps

The Harvard University community is remembering Kiah Duggins, a civil rights attorney who was identified as one of the victims of thedeadly D.C. plane crash.

“As a student and lawyer, Kiah was known for her boundless enthusiasm for advancing justice for the most vulnerable, and for building community,” Interim Harvard Law School Dean John Goldberg wrote of Duggins, per the obituary.

“Even up against the most entrenched challenges, Kiah radiated optimism, kindness and empathy that inspired so many to work alongside her. As one of her classmates has written, ‘She was the best of us,’ ” Goldberg added.

Duggins’ family previously told NPR affiliateKMUWthat she had been flying back to Washington, D.C., where she worked as anattorney for the Civil Rights Corps, after spending some time in Wichita, Kan., to support her mother, who was undergoing a surgical procedure.

Kiah Duggins' portrait on the Civil Rights Corps website.Civil Rights Corps

Originally from Wichita, Duggins earned her bachelor’s degree from Wichita State University and completed a Fulbright grant in Taiwan, the obituary states.

She also spent time teaching second grade, and had a long résumé full of extracurriculars, including competing as a Miss Kansas contestant, becoming a member of the Harvard Black Law Students Association and serving as president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

Harvard Legal Aid Bureau Acting Faculty Director Eloise Lawrence said in the obituary that “Kiah was all light.”

“Kiah was HLAB’s president through the worst days of the pandemic,” Lawrence said. “Kiah led us all with her grace, her brilliance and her wonderful laugh. She always treated others with deep kindness and respect, but she was not afraid to make tough decisions or to tackle difficult problems.”

Duggins worked at several independent firms, as well as with the ACLU of Northern California following her graduation from law school. Most recently, she worked as an attorney at the Civil Rights Corps, a nonprofit organization dedicated to challenging systemic injustice. She was planning to begin work as a professor this fall at Howard University.

Several of the civil rights attorney’s friends also paid tribute to her online, including Anna Bower, who wrote onBlue Sky: “I’m sad to learn that my law school classmate, Kiah Duggins, died in the D.C. plane crash last night. Kiah was an exceptionally talented civil rights lawyer and aspiring legal scholar.”

Another friend, former Sedgwick County Commissioner Lacey Cruse, described Duggins’ death as “devastating,” adding onFacebook, “She was a brave and beautiful soul, a light in the fight for civil rights. Her loss is heartbreaking, not only for her family and friends but for everyone who believes in justice and equality.”

The crash occurred on Wednesday, Jan. 29, when a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided withAmerican Airlines flight 5342just before 9 p.m. local time as the passenger plane was preparing to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The crash sent both aircrafts plummeting into the Potomac River, andall 67 passengers on both aircraftsare presumed dead.

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Duggins was due back to Harvard Law School this weekend to “participate in a Systemic Justice Project conference focused on many of the issues that were central to her life and work,” the university added.

“My heart is broken for her parents, for all her many, many friends, but also for the world,” Lawrence said in the obituary. “She had already made a significant impact in her job at Civil Rights Corps, and she was going to take her legal experience and her natural gift as a teacher to Howard University in the fall. I am devastated for all those students who will not get to learn from this remarkable young woman.”

source: people.com