Sarah Lee Best (B.A. ‘13) passed away in the Jan. 29 collision of American Airlines Flight 5342, en route from Wichita, Kansas to Washington, D.C., with a U.S. Army Black Hawk over the Potomac River minutes before it was supposed to land at Ronald Reagan International Airport in Arlington, Virginia. All 64 people on the plane and the three soldiers in the Army helicopter passed away. Best was one of two alumni who lost their lives in the crash. 

Best was a Clarksville, Tennessee, native and graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt with a Bachelor of Arts in neuroscience and classical languages in 2013. She then worked as a high school math teacher and instructional coach in Tennessee before receiving her Doctor of Law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2021. Best worked as an attorney for Wilkinson Stekloff in Washington, D.C. 

Best’s husband Daniel Solomon is the director of undergraduate studies and a principal senior lecturer of classical and Mediterranean studies at Vanderbilt.

Esther Kang, a longtime friend of Best, posted on LinkedIn days after the crash to commemorate Best’s life and legacy. She remembered Sarah as a commendable and compassionate friend who was always there to listen.

“She might have been the only person who talked to you directly and casually about your open wounds,” Kang’s post reads. “And because she was vulnerable and shared about herself, you trusted her. In her quiet, mama-bear way, she pinpointed your insecurities and anxieties and relieved them.”

In a message to The Hustler, Kang described Sarah as someone who gained deep respect from those around her “with her thoughtfulness, humility and genuine care rather than with a booming voice or social aptitude.”

Best’s career goals included championing equal rights for marginalized communities. According to Kang, Best hoped to one day work in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

“I have never been sadder, knowing she’s gone, but I have never been happier, knowing I received the greatest gift of true love and total understanding,” Kang said. “Sarah died happy, knowing exactly who she was, receiving mountains of love from her husband Daniel, me and all those who knew her.”