A Harvard Law School graduate on the verge of joining the faculty at the nation’s most prestigious historically Black law school was killed in the midair crash at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.
Kiah Duggins, 30, was described in a 2021 profile as a “force of nature” who, while leading the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, had found creative ways to help tenants facing eviction during the COVID pandemic.
“Her accomplishments are many and her impact immense,” according to a Harvard Law School profile posted to the school’s website in 2021.
Duggins was set to join the faculty at Howard University Law School in Washington, D.C., this fall, the university said in a post on Facebook Thursday.
“As a civil rights lawyer, she dedicated her career to fighting against unconstitutional policing and unjust money bail practices in Tennessee, Texas and Washington, D.C.,” the university said.
American Airlines Flight 5342 originated in Duggins’s hometown of Wichita, Kan. The plane collided Wednesday night over the Potomac River with a US Army helicopter, killing all 67 people onboard both aircraft, officials said.
Among those killed were six people associated with The Skating Club of Boston, and Chris Collins, a vice president of a New York City investment firm who grew up in North Dighton.
Harvard Law School released a statement Friday mourning Duggins and highlighting her academic and scholastic achievements.
“As a student and lawyer, Kiah was known for her boundless enthusiasm for advancing justice for the most vulnerable, and for building community,” John Goldberg, interim dean of Harvard Law School, wrote in the statement.
In one online profile, Duggins described herself as a “proud alumna” of the Wichita public schools. She was also a graduate of Wichita State University in 2017.
While in college, Duggins was one of 10 finalists for the Miss Kansas contest, and she also taught ballet classes, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She was also active in a number of social and political issues on campus including helping to launch a campus food pantry, serving as a school ambassador for diversity and inclusion, and starting a nonprofit to help high-school-age girls of color prepare for college.
“Through her experiences as an underrepresented student in predominately white educational institutions, Kiah learned how the lack of social capital can be a formidable barrier to post-secondary academic success,” the university wrote.
Duggins graduated from the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State with a degree in International Business, Economics, and Spanish, the school’s dean said in a statement posted online.
“Kiah was a beacon of light, a testament to perseverance, and an inspiration to all who dream big and work tirelessly to achieve their goals,“ Larisa V. Genin said in the post. ”We hope her legacy continues to inspire our students, serving as a reminder of what is possible through determination, passion, and purpose."
Duggins entered Harvard in 2018 and spent her years on campus focused on civil rights issues, including serving as president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, which provides help in civil cases such as evictions.
“She assumed the presidency of the 60-member organization just as the COVID-19 pandemic began and led the organization with grace, fortitude, and incredible skill through challenge and change,” according to a Harvard profile.
Duggins was one of three Harvard law students singled out by the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs for participation in volunteer activities.
She was also a team leader at the Harvard Defenders, where law school students represent low-income clients in criminal show cause hearings as a way to reduce incarceration for minor offenses. She was also a member of the Harvard Black Law Students Association.
Amid the demands of being a student at one of country’s the top law schools and the hours she devoted to pro bono work, Duggins also found time to mentor students of color at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School and at Prospect Hill Academy, both in Cambridge.
She also was a policy intern for first lady Michelle Obama in 2018.
In September 2021, following graduation from Harvard Law, Duggins joined the Civil Rights Corps, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit group “dedicated to challenging systemic injustice in the United States’ legal system – a system that is built on white supremacy and economic inequality.“
She left the CRC to join the faculty at Howard.
In the 2021 Harvard profile, Duggins summarized what she gained while attending the Ivy League school and engaging in her wide range of extracurricular activities.
“My law school experience was totally defined by clinical and pro bono work,” she wrote. “All of these experiences taught me everything I know about interacting with clients, written and oral advocacy, providing legal assistance to larger social movements, the technical elements of the law, and larger philosophical questions about what the law should be.”
Duggins had been expected to return to Harvard this weekend to participate in a Systemic Justice Project conference, the statement from school said.
“Duggins is gone too soon,” the Harvard Black Law Students Association said in a post on Instagram. “She was a fearless civil rights advocate with a passion for service and a commitment to advancing the equal dignity and treatment of Black people. Her efforts have already shaped this nation for the better.”
John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him @JREbosglobe. Sarah Mesdjian can be reached at sarah.mesdjian@globe.com. Follow her on X @sarahs_journal.