"Early in the pandemic, the Wellesley community was devastated to learn that alumna Zoe Mungin ’11, 30 years old, had succumbed to COVID-19 after being repeatedly turned away by emergency health services in New York City. After weeks on life support, Mungin died on April 27, 2020.
A talented writer, an animal lover, a beloved sister and daughter, and a passionate social studies teacher at Bushwick Ascend Middle School in Brooklyn, Mungin had a promising life ahead. But the medical establishment too often gives short shrift to women and people of color, and Mungin was both. Her death illuminated the health inequities that plagued communities of color long before COVID-19 became a household word.
For this feature, we wished both to pay tribute to Mungin’s promise and shed light on how the system failed her. We asked alumna Karen Grigsby Bates ’73, the senior correspondent for Code Switch, the NPR podcast that reports on race and ethnicity, to take a closer look at the tragedy. We commissioned illustrator Hannah Buckman to create art that would reflect both Mungin’s vibrancy and that of the Brooklyn community that formed her and lost her.
At the time of the feature’s publication in fall 2020, few of us could have imagined that COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. would approach 900,000. Zoe’s tragedy and her story are emblematic of all that we have lost and how far we have to go to build a medical system that serves everyone equitably."
From the Judges
This one really pulled on the team's heartstrings. It really shows the devastating role that race plays on obtaining proper healthcare. Strong use of input and quotes from university officials to make this a well-rounded story.
