Known for her compassion and resilience, Julia Cross ’24 brought joy to all who knew her. Cross is remembered by friends and loved ones for her poetic talent, passion for economics and warm-hearted nature.
“Julia was kind and compassionate and brought much love, peace and joy through her conscientious and thoughtful approach to all that she did,” her mother, Carolyn Cross, wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth.
After a courageous battle against sacral osteosarcoma — a rare type of bone cancer — Cross died on April 6.
“Her gallant battle against one of the most aggressive and painful of all cancers was fought with stoic resolve and quiet acceptance,” Carolyn Cross wrote. “She was the bravest person I know.”
During her time at the College, Cross was a Dartmouth Economics Research Scholar, a member of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority, a student facilitator for the Sexual Violence Prevention Project and a volunteer for the Hanover Community Kitchen. Outside of her coursework in economics, Cross enjoyed writing poetry.
“She was an exceptional poet,” Carolyn Cross wrote. “Some of her poems can bring one to tears. She had such depth and understanding — which served her well during her most difficult days.”
Former AXiD president and close friend Min Hur ’24 recalled Cross’s infectious spirit.
“I still remember how happy I was to see her back on campus in the fall,” Hur said. “Julia radiated joy — just her presence in a room would brighten up people’s day.”
Hur added that Cross’s spirits “never faltered,” even when she became ill.
“She was just so strong and resilient,” Hur said. “So funny and caring — even though she was so sick.”
Economics professor Bruce Sacerdote, who was Cross’s mentor in the DERS program, remembered Cross as “a wonderful and caring person” and a student who was “very engaging in classes.”
According to Sacerdote, one of the projects Cross worked on was communicating with subjects for his study of graduation rates at Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis.
“She helped us figure out a survey of the students who are in the treatment and control group in this experiment,” Sacerdote said. “She spent a lot of time following up with the subjects in the experiment, to ask them questions about their backgrounds and their persistence and perseverance through college.”
Additionally, Sacerdote said Cross helped Catia Farquharson ’23 with her senior honors thesis, which researched the effects of eviction moratoriums on house prices after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Julia helped us build up a really detailed data set of eviction moratoriums across the country,” Sacerdote said. “She built up a whole team of undergraduates to build that. She really did a wonderful job.”
Economics professor Maura Doyle noted that Cross “stood out” among her peers in her ECON 10, “Introduction to Statistical Methods” course in spring 2021. According to Doyle, spring 2021 was a difficult term, particularly for the Class of 2024 — who navigated their first year at Dartmouth with courses entirely online, and who were grieving the deaths of three fellow first-year students.
Still, Julia made a “valiant” effort to “make it work,” Doyle said. For example, when Doyle held in-person office hours on the porch of her house near campus, Cross was the only student out of 60 to attend.
“She showed so much effort and determination, and you could just tell she was such a remarkable student,” Doyle said.
In her free time, Cross, who was from Vancouver, Canada, enjoyed spending time in nature.
“Whether downhill or cross-country skiing at Whistler, walking the vast open beaches in Tofino or just walking with our three dogs on a misty rainy Vancouver day, Julia loved the quiet of nature and loved being in her own world,” Carolyn Cross wrote.
According to her mother, some of Cross’s “happiest moments” were during her time at the College.
“Her many rich college experiences and valued friends brought her great happiness,” Carolyn Cross wrote. “We are so grateful that she had those wonderful years at Dartmouth; these beautiful memories are amongst those that now provide us with some comfort during this very difficult time.”
