Following the shooting that killed nine people in Charleston, S.C., Wednesday night, approximately 70 Boston University students and community members gathered at Marsh Plaza Friday afternoon for a vigil honoring the lives of the deceased.
Organized by Marsh Chapel, the vigil commenced with the reading of a prayer from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., led by Brother Larry Whitney.
“We hope that this can be a reflective moment at the end of a busy week and a tragic night in so many ways,” Whitney said during the vigil. “We gather to remember nine lives of persons, persons just as we gather here today are persons and just as the person who sought to take their lives sought to deny his personhood.”
The deadly attack took place Wednesday night when Dylann Roof, 21, allegedly opened fire at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. Roof has been taken into custody and is charged with nine counts of murder.
The vigil honored the deceased with the recitation of each of their names followed by the ringing of a bell, led by Associate Director of Residence Life for Student and Staff Development Daryl Healea and BU Hillel’s Director of Student Life Ethan Sobel.
Within a somber atmosphere surrounding the plaza, Whitney concluded the vigil with another prayer from King and a moment of silence, before dismissing the attendees to “go in peace.”
Amid conversation after the vigil, several attendees spoke of posters being put up on BU’s campus in support of shooter that stated, “I Support Roof” early Friday morning.
Word spread after a BU student posted on his Facebook page about his experience of passing by the posters and tearing them down.
David José Castillo, a rising junior in the College of Fine Arts and the student’s roommate, had brought the conversation to Twitter, hoping that BU and Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore would address what his roommate had seen.
“I saw the post on [Facebook] that explained my roommate’s encounter with the offensive posters,” Castillo said in a Facebook message. “I tweeted a request for a public statement on BU’s behalf.”
BU Police Department Captain Robert Molloy said that he had heard of the posters, but was not entirely sure about the details.
“We heard that someone had found the poster and took it down,” he said. “We’re trying to find out who did this and who knows. There’s a tweet out there but that’s all we know.”
Several attendees of the vigil expressed their grief and condolences, hoping BU as an institution would publicly acknowledge the tragedy to give students solace.
Rebekah Leopold, a rising senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said that the vigil will allow community members to come together and support each other.
“Emotions are so high right now,” she said. “Many students, but especially our African-American students, are really looking and needing some sort of support at BU. [It] makes the daily lives of being students so much more difficult.”
Soojee Choi, a rising senior in Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said that the tragedy was overwhelming and unfortunately has happened in a lot of places.
“These are things that happen all over the place and [are] done consecutively,” she said. “It’s become much more prevalent in the news. It’s like one of many and that’s a sad thing to say.”
William Belt, a rising senior in the College of Communication and president of Umoja, BU’s Black Student Union, said he looks for BU to engage in a conversation about similar incidents that have been happening.
“Let’s tell people what it is, show them what it is and then let’s talk about it. This is not something we want to grace over because it has affected students,” he said. “[The posters] have no place. That’s a lack of respect for life and that’s not welcomed here.”
