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Virginia awards honorary degrees to 3 football players killed in mass shooting

The University of Virginia is honoring the three Cavaliers football players who were killed in a mass shooting last month with posthumous degrees.

The school announced on Tuesday that Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry — who were killed in a shooting on campus on Nov. 13 — would receive the degrees. Chandler was majoring in American studies, and Davis was majoring in African American and African studies. Perry was a double major in studio art and in African American and American studies.

Former Virginia football player Christopher Jones Jr. allegedly opened fire on a charter bus he and other students took on a school trip to Washington, D.C., last month. Two other students, including Virginia running back Mike Hollins, were injured in the shooting, too.

Jones was charged with three counts of second-degree murder, the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, two counts of malicious wounding and more. He is being held without bail in a Charlottesville jail, and he’s due in court later this week.

The football team canceled its final two games of the regular season, and they attended all three memorial services together in the players’ respective hometowns.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips honored the three players at the conference championship game on Saturday.

"We had a terrible tragedy earlier this year," he said. "So Devin, Lavel, D'Sean, we love you. We love your families, and you'll never be forgotten by this conference. That is about as hard of a situation as I could ever imagine being a parent, and being part of the Virginia family and the rest ... Let's never forget those three, really, heroes of the ACC."

Virginia Cavaliers helmets
Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D'Sean Perry were killed last month in a mass shooting on Virginia's campus. (David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)