Tragically, Thalia Chaverria, a 20-year-old women’s soccer player from New Mexico State University, was discovered unresponsive at her residence on Monday morning and was subsequently pronounced dead.
Chaverria had recently celebrated her 20th birthday and was preparing for her third season with the Aggies program. Hailing from Bakersfield, California, she played a pivotal role in the team’s achievement of their first-ever conference title in women’s soccer at the university. Her contributions and dedication will be remembered by her teammates and the entire NMSU community.
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Fox News reported:
The Las Cruces Police Department responded to a residence in the area at around 7 a.m. local time over reports of an “unresponsive woman.” Once on the scene, police and fire personnel discovered that Chaverria was deceased.
Police are continuing their investigation, but noted they “have no reason to believe Chaverria’s death is suspicious or the result of criminal activity.”
More from the New York Post:
Angelissa Garza, a close friend from Chaverria’s hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., wrote in an Instagram tribute on Wednesday that the death felt “so unreal.”
“You are the most beautiful person I have ever met inside and out. You were the light to any room you walked in, you always made me smile and laugh when I was feeling down,” Garza continued underneath a slideshow of the two women smiling at their high school graduation, as well as more recent memories.
A candlelight vigil in Chaverria’s memory is set for Friday evening at the Surf Fields in Bakersfield, according to a post on Garza’s Instagram story.
At the time of her death, Chaverria was set to start her junior year at NMSU, where she was a standout defender on the soccer pitch.
On March 1, 2023, New Mexico State University issued a letter to inform faculty, staff, students, and administrators that the requirement to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination with a primary series of an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) injection had been lifted.
The letter states:
Our requirement that all students and employees in the NMSU system be fully vaccinated with a primary series of an approved vaccine has served us well. It has been an important tool for protecting our people and the communities where we live. However, the effectiveness of the primary series on its own waned significantly in the last year due to the evolution of new viral variants. We strongly encourage everyone to stay up to date with the latest COVID-19 boosters, which are effective in reducing the severity of the disease, but our requirement of the primary series of vaccines as a condition of employment or enrollment in the NMSU system is no longer suitable.
…
Individuals with a hire date of March 1, 2023, or later are no longer required to provide proof of vaccination or apply for an exemption.
Students enrolling in classes beginning in the Summer 2023 session or later are no longer required to provide proof of vaccination or apply for an exemption.
