Death of Miami senior tragic and unexpected

Miami University senior Tatum Moleski died in her off-campus home in Oxford on Saturday, March 19, according to an announcement posted to myMiami.

Oxford Police Department (OPD) Lt. Lara Fening said that Moleski’s death is still under investigation by the Butler County Coroner’s Office.

“It is tragic and heartbreaking when someone so young dies,” Fening said. ”It is shocking for everybody when we lose someone from our MU student community.”

In an email to The Miami Student, senior communications director Jessica Rivinius encouraged students struggling with the loss to reach out to the after hours HOPE line, the Dean of Students office or Student Counseling Services to schedule an appointment.

“Tatum was a talented and intelligent young woman with a bright future,” Rivinius said. “Any unexpected death in our community is a shock and a profound loss. Our hearts go out to Tatum’s family and friends.”

Adrian Radilla, a 2019 graduate, met Moleski his freshman year while they were both involved with Miami University College Democrats, eventually serving as President and Vice President together. He remembers her as passionate, driven and caring, even in the face of adversity.

“Tatum gave a damn,” Radilla said. “She cared about the least among us, and she understood that injustice required a constant adversarial struggle against it. There were many times where no one would have blamed Tatum if she quit the struggle, but she kept on.”

Moleski, a biology and premedical studies major, made headlines at Miami in 2019 after sharing her sexual assault experience and subsequent struggles with the university’s handling of the situation, particularly in terms of mental health counseling.

Radilla said he’ll remember Moleski for her “simple love she carried for all of humanity.”

“I believe everyone who knew her can say without a doubt that at the end of the day she just wanted everyone to be okay,” Radilla said. “Her advocacy in the face of her own personal struggles touched and inspired all of those around her. Tatum, without exaggeration, was one of a kind.”

@hannahorsington