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DENVER (AP) -- Metropolitan State University of Denver has bestowed an honorary bachelor of arts degree upon a student who was killed in the Aurora theater shooting.

Jessica Ghawi, who was among 12 people killed in the July 20 shooting that injured 58 others, was a junior majoring in speech communication with a focus on broadcast journalism.

Sandy Phillips accepted the degree on behalf of her 24-year-old daughter yesterday, saying "we actually shed tears of joy instead of tears of sorrow."

Phillips says this was one of Ghawi's dreams that she was so close to achieving. She added that if her daughter was alive to receive the honorary degree, Ghawi would have jokingly said she didn't even have to study to get it.

Ghawi's degree was awarded during the university's fall commencement.

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