Members of the UCR community attended a candlelight vigil last Wednesday to pay their respects to the lives lost near UCSB on Friday, May 23. Vigils at UC’s in LA, Davis, San Diego, Santa Cruz and Berkeley all took place in the same week as acts of solidarity within the UC system. For UCR, there was an extraordinarily high turnout with over 2,000 people pledging to attend on the event’s Facebook page.
“(The external affairs officers) were all on Facebook Instant Messenger after the news of the shooting when (ASUCR Vice President of External Affairs) Kareem Aref had this idea. We were asking (ourselves) what we could do. We decided to do a vigil,” said Francis Castaneda, an officer in the ASUCR external affairs office.
Campus administrators provided over 1,000 candles to ASUCR, which were later handed out to the public during the vigil. In a march of unity, people wrapped around the Bell Tower, through the Rivera Library arches and all the way around Sproul Hall. The vigil was highly organized with ASUCR volunteers stationed at regular intervals to prevent students from going into the streets.
Recounting his day spent with the campus of UCR, Chancellor Kim Wilcox lamented that the community had to endure this loss. “Another aspect of tonight, however, reminds us that communities have different sizes and shapes,” said Wilcox. “We are part of a bigger community in the University of California. (The departed) are no longer part of our community in body but will be part of it in spirit forever.”
The sentiment of connectedness echoed throughout the evening with students huddling close together to keep their candles from blowing out. Despite the shooting occurring hundreds of miles away, the use of social media brought UCR students — both those connected and disconnected from the tragedy — together to mourn the tragedy.
Amanda Apelian, a UCR undergraduate, spoke of memories of her childhood friend and one of the victims, Veronika Weiss as she fought back tears.
“Weiss was one of my closest friends … I just want to tell everyone what she was like,” said Apelian. “Veronika was a diehard athlete … with an infectious laugh … Here at UCR, we all keep you and your family in our prayers.”
“We are one UC … We all feel this as a family,” concluded Aref.
The vigil ended with a reminder to everyone affected to utilize the UCR Counseling Services. Students can call 951-827-5531 to make a counseling appointment or visit the Counseling Center in person in the North Wing of the Veitch Student Center.
