The LGBTQ+ community stood together in terror as Omar Mateen shot and murdered 49 people at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida on June 12. In honor of those deaths, the LGBTQ+ Concerns Committee of Shippensburg University had a call to action and members of the SU community joined together to commemorate the lives taken, by hosting a candlelight vigil.
The ceremony began Wednesday night with a few words from faculty members Jayleen Galarza and Mathew Shupp, both co-chairs of SU’s LGBTQ+ Concerns Committee. Before introducing a few guest speakers to the microphone all the candles were lit one by one in the Ceddia Union Building amphitheater as the names of the 49 victims were read, with a candle being lit after each name was called.
SU President George “Jody” Harpster was the first to speak. He expressed his feelings of solidarity and sadness for the events that occurred in Orlando. Another speaker was Kapri Brown, assistant to the director in the office of Multicultural Student Affairs, telling her story of being in Miami at the time of the shooting, mentioning this is the second vigil she has attended for this event. She was accompanied by Terrell Henry, a member of Free to Be Me, a LGBTQ+ organization for people of color, who showed his concern on the topic of the safety of people in the LGBTQ+ community. The last speaker was the Rev. Jan Bye of SU’s United Campus Ministry. She led the moment of silence for all the victims, urging the community to pray or “do whatever you have to” during that moment.
To conclude the formal half of the vigil, members of the community were given the opportunity to express their concerns and voice their opinions on the topic. Various members of the SU community spoke out against the hate toward the LGBTQ+ community, with one unifying topic of the need for acceptance. Some spoke about the sadness they felt, or the anger. Others proposed plans of action to stand together in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, mentioning that in some states it is legal to discriminate against anyone from the LGBTQ+ community.
As the vigil came to a close, members of the SU community were left with the knowledge and stories given by the various speakers. In honor and memory of the victims of the shooting SU too stood with Orlando.
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