Casey Schulman: University of Virginia student killed diving off Caribbean island for Semester at Sea

A University of Virginia student has been slashed to death by a boat propeller while snorkeling off a Caribbean island for a 'Semester at Sea' program.

Casey Schulman, 22, died on Saturday on the tiny island nation of Dominica when the boat she and other students had hired backed over her.

Police Inspector Richmond Valentine said she was killed on Saturday afteoon as she and more than 50 other students visited Dominica as part of the university's 'Semester at Sea' program.

In a statement released to students and faculty, Patricia Lampkin, University of Virginia vice president and chief student affairs officer, said Schulman's death occurred during a recreational boating trip organized independently of Semester at Sea activities.

Valentine said a group of students, including Schulman, hired a boat owned by local company Anchorage Dive.

After a snorkeling excursion, the boat went to the west coast community of Mero where some students stayed in the water and others relaxed on the beach.

Schulman was swimming when she was struck by the boat's propeller as the captain was apparently driving in reverse after picking up food, Valentine said.

She sustained injuries over her entire body.

Tragedy: Schulman, left, who is from an upscale suburb of Washington, DC, spent her semester on a sailboat in the Caribbean

Doctors pronounced her dead at a local hospital.

A memorial service was planned aboard the Semester at Sea vessel on Sunday night, according to Lampkin's statement. The boat is scheduled to retu to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Friday.

Lampkin said she has been in touch with Schulman's family. She said grief counseling and support services are being made available to members of the university community.

Dominica is a lush, tropical island of some 71,000 people that brands itself as the Caribbean's 'Nature Island.'

Tragic: Casey Schulman, right, is seen with her family at her home in Falls Church, Virginia