On Friday, students and faculty gathered in the quad to remember the victims of the shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue, located 57 miles away from SRU in Squirrel Hill, on Oct. 26.
Sam Kochis, a sophomore music education major and Student Government Association (SGA) senator, organized the vigil after messaging other SGA senators on Tuesday.
“I felt very passionate that Slippery Rock University should have had some sort of campus-wide vigil or respect to those who were affected,” Kochis said.
According to Kochis, the vigil was a collaborative effort supported by various departments on campus in addition to SGA. Erin O’Connor, Women’s Center and Pride Center graduate assistant, David Wilmes, associate provost for student success, Tina Moser, chief of staff as well as representatives from the Office for Student Engagement and Learning and the psychology department all assisted in planning the vigil.
“I didn’t want this event to be run by one specific group,” Kochis said. “It’s a community thing. It’s a campus thing.”
Speakers included Dr. Susan Hadley, a former music therapy professor, Dr. William Behre, SRU president and Dallas Kline, SGA president, and the SRU Chamber Singers, Metea Sinclair and Alex Swisher performed.
