Campus vigil brings community together

By Sarah R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff

Vigil speakers included student trustee Jon Laubinger. (Stan Sherer photo)

ore than 4,000 people gathered on the west lawn of the Campus Pond Tuesday night to mourn as yet uncounted losses from airplane hijackings and attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center earlier that day.

     The assembled were quiet and reserved, many with tears in their eyes, as Student Government Association leaders and University officials spoke at the candlelight vigil, which burgeoned at a steady pace to fill the area between the pond, the Du Bois library, the Student Union and the Fine Arts Center.

     "There are no words to explain, no words to soothe, no words to comfort, no words at all, especially for the individuals whose families are directly touched," interim Chancellor Marcellette Williams told the students, faculty, staff and alumni before her. Although she couldn't yet release his name, Williams told the mourners that an Office of Information Technology staff member had perished on one of the planes.

     "This is the time to come together as a family and to let anyone affected know you care," said SGA president John Sheehan.

     Student trustee Jon Laubinger said the events of that morning "won't make sense today or tomorrow. They won't make sense next month. They'll never make sense."

     Music professor Lynn Klock played on his soprano saxophone a chant written by monks at the Taizé monastery in France. The simple, quiet sound matched the mood of the swelling crowd. Four of his students, sophomores Holly Carlton and Tom Nasiatka, junior Susan Poirier and senior Stephen Lessard, performed Bach's "Sarabande" from "Suite Française," transcribed for saxophone quartet.

First-year student Michael Wonson lights an early candle at Tuesday's vigil. (Stan Sherer photo)

     "This has to be talked about," said assistant professor of Women's Studies Alex Deschamps before the vigil. She said she would begin her Wednesday "Introduction to Women's Studies" course with a minute of silence and follow up with a discussion. "I want to help them to contextualize it without panicking."

     As darkness fell, students and staff began passing out the 1,800 votive candles donated by the Yankee Candle Company. Faculty, administrators and more students came forward to assist. Some participants had brought their own votives and tapers. As the flickering light spread across the lawn, the already quiet group became completely silent.

     Students had removed the head of a drum and placed it in front of the Student Union steps to gather donations for the families of the World Trade Center victims. The group raised $3,333 dollars, junior Steve Hoeschele, who conceived of the fund-raiser, later reported.

     The vigil was one part of the campus response to the tragedy. Classes were canceled as of 1 p.m. Tuesday for the remainder of the day. Williams sent an e-mail message to the campus, announcing that housing cluster and area residence directors' offices would be help and communication centers for students who live on campus and the Dean of Students Office would assist commuter students. The notice also reminded employees that they could find support at the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program.

     Some faculty remained on campus after classes were canceled to be available to students or colleagues in distress. Humanities and Fine Arts dean Lee Edwards created a gathering place in her South College office, complete with coffee, doughnuts, and a radio, for people who wanted company as the tragedy unfolded. Anthropology chair Ralph Faulkingham sent an e-mail to his staff that he said he modeled on one from Edwards, offering support to his staff as they dealt with their own needs and those of students.
The Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell campuses also canceled classes, as did Mount Holyoke and Hampshire colleges. Hampshire organized an all-campus meeting during the day. Smith and Amherst colleges remained in session and held all-campus meetings in the evening. The Boston campus postponed the inaugural convocation of its chancellor, Jo Ann Gora, originally scheduled for Wednesday, and scheduled an interfaith memorial service for later that afternoon.

     As the formal portion of the UMass vigil came to a close, assistant dean of students Merle Ryan encouraged student to carry their lights with them as they left the area and offered them an array of subsequent events to attend, including a mass at the Newman Center, which was attended by 500 people, and another vigil on Metawampe Lawn.

     "We are still in shock, and we still need each other to transcend this," Ryan said.
After the ceremony, dozens of groups of three to eight people remained at the site of the vigil while dozens more groups clustered around candles on the steps of the Student Union, the Lincoln Campus Center, and Metawampe Lawn.

     Although classes resumed Wednesday, the water polo, volleyball, field hockey, football and soccer teams canceled some upcoming matches, and assistance for students, faculty and staff remained available, including informal noon gatherings each day in the Campus Center provided by the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program.