College Mourns Student Van Accident Kills 19-Year-Old During Trip From Yellowstone

The death of a Whitman College sophomore in a van accident while returning from a school-sponsored trip to Yellowstone National Park shocked everyone at the school, President Tom Cronin said Thursday.

Bradley Stenger, 19, of Port Angeles, Wash., was killed Wednesday when the left rear tire blew out, overturning the van in the median of Interstate 90 just west of Anaconda, Mont. Thirteen students were in the van.

“It’s a day of mourning here today,” Cronin said in a telephone interview. “It’s a day of real sorrow here at the college when any member of our family has a tragedy like this.”

Whitman, founded in 1859 as the first independent liberal arts college in Washington, has 1,275 students.

The students on the Yellowstone trip were among about 100 on school “scramble” trips to various Northwest locations. Other activities included biking in the San Juan Islands and performing community service for AIDS victims in Seattle.

Whitman offers the voluntary trips prior to the start of classes to help freshmen bond with other students and learn about the college from upperclassmen. Classes start next week.

Stenger was one of the leaders on the six-day trip to Yellowstone.”The boy had a lot of friends here. He was well-liked,” Cronin said.

A campus memorial service has not yet been scheduled. Cronin was to lead a private memorial Thursday night for students returning from other trips.

Lance Martin was listed in serious condition Thursday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Martin, a freshman from Edmonds, Wash., was airlifted Thursday morning from St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula. He suffered a fractured pelvis and facial fractures, officials said.

The driver of the van, Pete Morisseau, 19, of Auburn, Wash., was listed Thursday in critical but stable condition at St. James Community Hospital in Butte.

Other injured students, all listed in stable condition at Community Hospital in Anaconda, were identified as Nathan Anderson of Fall City, Wash.; Jake Bennett of Anchorage, Alaska; Cedar Brown, 18, of Ashland, Ore.; Carolyn Fein of Granger, Wash.; Amy Jenks of Los Altos Hills, Calif.; Leah Rees of Fair Oaks, Calif.; Eddie Reese, 18, of Beaverton, Ore.; and Mike Waldman of Phoenix.

Jay Tim Hobbs Jr., of Arlington, Va.; and Eric Dwight of Palo Alto, Calif., were listed in satisfactory condition Thursday at St. James Hospital in Butte.