Students unite for candelight vigil at Old Main
‘Together we are Penn State, we are Paris, we are Beirut…we are the true representation of humanity’
After the terrorist attacks on Paris over the weekend, students united at the We Are One Candlelight Vigil for International Peace and Cooperation.
They gathered on Old Main Lawn last night to remember the recent attacks across the world.
Event organizer Brandon Sullivan said: “They say that actions speak louder than words, this is best action we can to fight something like this.”
Brandon said this past Friday he received a text late at night from a friend that said “Paris is in flames.” He saw “horrifying” images online.
Across the media there were stories of despair, hardships, and mass killings of innocent people.
As Brandon recalled in a New York Times article, “France embodies everything religious zealots everywhere hate: enjoyment of life here on earth in a myriad little ways.”
What was once a peaceful country now stands as a country suffering over this weekend’s events.
“We must keep in mind that these terror attack are made every day all over the world,” he said. “Terror has no ethnicity or race.”
He encouraged more peaceful protests and for students to stay united. Those who attended the event expressed their sadness.
“I think it hits close to home because we have kids from Penn State over there,” said Erin Gladstone, a senior Biology major.
She hopes this vigil will spread overall awareness about this issue.
Other students talked about their friends who were studying abroad during this terrorist attack.
Joshua Critelli, a senior majoring in Public Relations, said he was surprised and it was something he didn’t see coming. He had friends over in France and they were fine, but the event was shocking.
Peggy Findeison, a junior majoring in Psychology, said one of her roommate’s best friends was in Paris when the attack happened and the city was on lockdown.
“It’s to the point where you can imagine it happening to anyone,” she said.
A couple other speakers spoke after Brandon.
Mustafa Ali, a member who spoke on the behalf of the Muslim Student Association, reminded students we all come from different backgrounds but there are two ways to deal with this tragedy.
He encouraged us to look into ourselves and find passion.
He said: “It’s compassion that allows us to see the fragments of good, the fragments of hope in this world, which seems to be eclipsed by sadness and by tragedy.
“We have to unify one another in order to not succumb to the current hatred that these terrorist are trying to create.”
Students at the event said they hoped vigils like these will spread messages about peaceful protest and the hope is that there will be more vigils like this one.
There were more than 500 students at this event to show their condolences for the lives lost, and the tragedy that Paris overcame, along with the other global terror attacks.
French Club President Justin Roniger said: “I have spoken with the French community here and we all agree on an important point to overcome these tragic events we must continue to do what we love.”
He explained we can work together to stop these terroristic attacks.
Justin added: “Together we are Penn State, we are Paris, we are Beirut, we are all of the cities of the world that are suffering from this tragedy, we are the true representation of humanity.”