Santa Clara University mourns death of student killed in car collision near campus

SANTA CLARA — A campus is in mourning after an 18-year-old Santa Clara University student was killed in a car collision Thursday in front of the school grounds, according to authorities and college officials.

Kephas Pope, a member of the college’s Class of 2027, was near El Camino Real and Accolti Way just before noon when he was hit by a southbound driver, Santa Clara police said in a news release.

In a GoFundMe page established by Pope’s father, he wrote that his son was riding his bicycle to class when the collision occurred.

Responding police officers and firefighters found Pope seriously injured. He was taken to a hospital where he died, police said.

Police said the driver stopped at the scene, and there is no indication that anyone was arrested or cited, or that the driver was impaired by drugs or alcohol. No additional details, including the exact circumstances of the collision, were released by police Friday.

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On Thursday afternoon, SCU President Julie Sullivan sent out a campus email confirming Pope’s death and describing him as a sophomore majoring in neuroscience and biochemistry. He was “a straight-A student who loved working in the organic chemistry lab,” Sullivan wrote.

The message noted that Pope’s father is a recent law graduate of the college — and current lecturer — and that his sister is also a student, in the Class of 2026.

“Let us remember Kephas as the wonderful friend, son and student that he was,” Sullivan wrote.

The campus is planning a vigil for Pope scheduled for after students return from Thanksgiving break.