Rachel Carnes, third from left, shares a laugh with her roommate UMass Lowell junior Darcy Fournier, left. She is joined by sister Cassandra Carnes and Management Prof. Steven Tello. Both Tello and Prof. Russell Karl in Legal Studies are helping Rachel transition back to two of her classes after being out for two months.

Her beaming smile lights up the room.  Just why is senior Rachel Carnes, who spent the last two and a half months in and out of hospitals, smiling so broadly? “I'm just so grateful to be back,” she said.

Rachel – who was airlifted to Boston Medical Center after she was injured in a freak accident on University Avenue in January – is back on campus and back in classes.

Flanked by her family, parents Linda and John and sister Cassandra, and seven of her suitemates, Rachel recently faced a phalanx of TV cameras and journalists for a special announcement: She would be the first recipient of a scholarship from the newly established Martin T. Meehan Educational Excellence Endowment Fund. Amounting to about $40,000, the scholarship will cover all of Rachel’s outstanding debt and the cost of the remainder of her undergraduate education, which she intends to complete in the fall.

Chancellor Marty Meehan pointed out that Rachel is exceptional -- “It’s a miraculous story that she is back on campus”– but also typical. It’s not unusual, Meehan said, for UMass Lowell students to persevere in the face of adversity and complete their degrees.  That is why the first Meehan Fund scholarship is designated for her. More than $1 million will be available from the fund for student scholarships, largely due to fundraising related to Meehan’s inauguration week events.

John Carnes said that two days after the accident, Rachel lay in her hospital bed, eyes swollen shut, virtually immobile. But she managed to write a note to her parents. It was a crucial moment in her parents’ vigil, one that revealed to them that their daughter’s brain was functioning. What was it Rachel wanted so desperately to communicate? She wanted a textbook for a class. “Her mind never left school at all,” said her father.

“I really love school a lot,” said Rachel. “I really just wanted to go back to school really bad,” and back to “my life.” Rachel thanked her suitemates, who spent hours communicating with others about her recovery and traveled to the hospital to visit. Rachel also thanked her current professors, Steven Tello in Management and Russell Karl in Legal Studies, who have used podcasts and other methods to ensure that Rachel can catch up on her missed studies.

Meehan said Karl and Tello are typical UMass Lowell faculty, going that “extra mile” for their students. He thanked the faculty and administrators, especially Dean of Students Larry Siegel and Interim Provost Donald Pierson, for ensuring that the University did everything in its power to make Rachel’s transition back to campus a smooth one.

Rachel reported that she has no memory of the accident. A doctor told her that sometimes “your brain protects you” in that way. Her injuries, sustained when a speeding pickup truck hit her after jumping a curb in front of Alumni Hall, included a broken back. “They say I broke it in just the right place,” she said with a smile. Rachel is fully physically able and expects a complete recovery over the next two years. Her mother said, “I'm just so happy she's alive. I'm so happy she’s still who she is.”

Rachel Carnes, right front, was joined by family and friends when Chancellor Marty Meehan, seated next to her, announced that she would be the first scholarship recipient of the Meehan Educational Excellence Endowment Fund. Rachel’s parents, Linda and John Carnes, joined them at the table. Behind them are Rachel’s suitemates, from left, Jennifer Clark, Leslie Conway, Alison Dischino, Tiffany Kothman and Ashley Naughton. Not pictured is Leigha-Rose Belanus.