UMD Community Gathers for Vigil for Michigan State Students

Attendees place candles on ODK fountain at McKeldin Mall on February 25, 2023 in a vigil held for the victims of the recent Michigan State University shooting (Nene Narh-Mensah/The Black Explosion)

University of Maryland community members gathered on McKeldin Mall on Friday for a candlelit vigil for victims of the recent Michigan State University shooting. 

Gun violence prevention advocacy group Terps Demand Action — this university’s chapter of Students Demand Action — organized the vigil for the three Michigan State University students who were killed, and the five others who were injured after the shooting on February 13.

Sophomore criminology major Isabella Socha Soares said that the vigil was important, not just to mourn the deaths of the students, but also to remember their lives.

“It's easy for us to get caught up in our lives and feel numb to the pain,” Socha Soares said. “But these were real, everyday students who went to the student union and never came back. They deserve not to be forgotten.”

Junior Arielle Diamond Anderson, sophomore Brian Fraser and junior Alexandria Verner were killed in the attack. Socha Soares tearfully read stories of their lives, such as Fraser’s involvement as president of MSU’s Phi Delta Theta chapter.

Speakers at the vigil emphasized the importance of unity and collective action in stopping gun violence.

Senior health services member at Trinity University Celeste Iroha said the United States government has failed to stop mass shootings.

“Gun violence is a public health epidemic,” said Iroha, who founded Terps Demand Action. “How many more have to die for something to change?”

University president Darryll Pines spoke about actions taken by universities to stop gun violence. Pines said he and Gregory Washington — president of George Mason University — formed the “120 Initiative” in July 2022 a research effort by a group of Washington, D.C., area universities to find ways to curb gun violence.

The 15-school consortium aims to provide lawmakers and the public with tools to reduce gun violence, according to The Washington Post. Pines said that students can be advocates on the state and national levels to fight for gun violence prevention. 

“Let's take our pain and channel it into action,” Pines said.

Sophomore psychology major Robert Smith said it’s time for students to form a stronger community.

Smith, who plays wide receiver on this university’s football team, advocated having more uncomfortable conversations about gun violence prevention. More vulnerability will help the community take more steps toward a solution, he said. 

“We have the ability to change what has become our norm. We have the ability to start to feel safer on our campuses,” Smith said.