Student remembered as a bright, budding journalist

Victoria E. Snelgrove wanted to follow in the footsteps of Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw, and Katie Couric, energetically auditioning for news anchor slots at Emerson College's on-campus television network. Her wide smile and no-nonsense delivery quickly impressed her fellow would-be broadcasters.

Snelgrove -- Torie, to her friends and family -- died yesterday afternoon, just eight days shy of her 22d birthday, apparently as a result of being struck in the eye by a pepper-spray-filled plastic ball fired by police during the disorderly celebration following the Red Sox victory over the New York Yankees in the final game of the American League Championship Series.

Early in the day, rumors of a student's death spread through Emerson's downtown Boston campus, but by late afternoon, when school administrators announced that Snelgrove had died, her classmates in the broadcast journalism school were already hard at work on a video tribute to her, coping in the way they knew best. Snelgrove's audition tape surfaced, and some students watched it in private, this last image of their animated and ambitous friend. She had been scheduled to anchor a newscast next week.

In East Bridgewater, where she lived with her parents, grieving family and friends gathered in shock. Her father, Richard, greeted a group of reporters gathered outside the family home by holding up a photo of his daughter and saying, "I want you all to meet my daughter Victoria."

Snelgrove, said her family, was a big Red Sox fan. She had decided to come into the city Wednesday night to join her friends in Kenmore Square for the big night.

A close family friend, Howard Dempsey, issued a statement on behalf of family: "At this point in time it is hard to comprehend that she will no longer be there with her beautiful face and bright shining smile which could light a room. Torie always worked hard to accomplish the goals she set for herself and in doing so she inspired others to work hard as well. . . . Her absence will cause a void which will never be filled."

Snelgrove graduated from East Bridgewater High School and then attended Fitchburg State College. But one year ago she transferred to Emerson, with its well-regarded journalism program and semi-professional campus news station, WEBN.

"Victoria and I had a lot of discussions about her career," said Emerson assistant journalism professor Janet Kolodzy, who was Snelgrove's adviser. "She was determined to be a broadcast journalist. She did what we expect our broadcast journalism students to do. . . . She took what she learned in class and was learning to apply it to real life."

Snelgrove, said Kolodzy, was determined to break into the fast-paced world of broadcast journalism: "She didn't want to settle for anything else."

Snelgrove was on course to graduate in spring 2006. Her Emerson professors were exposing her to all facets of the business, urging her to go into the street to report, assemble broadcasts in the studio, write scripts, and get in front of the cameras. She was scheduled to meet with Kolodzy early next month to begin planning her career path.

Emerson will suspend all classes today, with a memorial scheduled for 1 p.m. in the campus theater. The video tribute assembled by Snelgrove's classmates will air Monday on the college's television station.

As students sifted through archives of videotape and busily worked on video editing consoles yesterday, some paused to remember their colleague, a young woman they were just getting to know.

"She was very helpful to us all," said Rachael Gabrielson, an Emerson junior who works at WEBN. "Such a nice girl. She always wanted to learn."

Chris Oronzi, a senior broadcast journalism student, said: "I remember her as a very nice, very friendly young woman with a big bright smile. Certainly the entire journalism community, and the Emerson community at large, is shocked and saddened by the news. Our thoughts and prayers will remain with Victoria's family."

Then he added: "It's kind of strange to have known her."

Emerson's journalism department is small and tightly knit, and students whispered about the tragedy at the Boylston Street building that houses the program.

Many did not know Snelgrove well and asked her small circle of friends for their recollections. One journalism class spent 20 minutes discussing her death. Some students simply said, "It could have been me."

Globe correspondent Brendan McCarthy contributed to this report. Raja Mishra can be reached at rmishra@globe.com.