A candlelight vigil organized by fraternity member and UW-Madison junior Brian Cho and the UW-Madison Greek Community was held Monday on Library Mall in remembrance of the Virginia Tech shootings that occurred last Monday.
Emphasizing the need to ""try to prevent future tragedies like this anywhere,"" Mayor Dave Cieslewicz raised the issue of gun control, comparing the 81 people killed daily by firearms in America in contrast to the 34 to 36 killed annually in Japan.
This was followed by several words from UW-Madison Dean of Students Lori Berquam, and students Emily Villwock and Farha Tahir who feel UW-Madison students should be given more opportunities to show their support for the victims. The two friends collaborated with the Greek community and made commemorative ribbons that were passed around during the event.
""We are all about supporting one another and promoting our Greek name,"" said UW-Madison junior and sorority member Celia Nieves. ""A lot of times people look down on us, but we are here for things like this.""
Members of the Korean-American Student Association were also invited to participate in the vigil, highlighting the need for unity during times of tragedy.
""No race is associated with what happened—no one is pointing fingers at the Koreans,"" UW-Madison freshman Rick Wolf said, regarding possible sentiment toward the Virginia Tech shooter and South Korean native Cho Seung-Hui. ""This was just another student, a very disturbed student.""
UW-Madison junior Gabriela Varela added the media seems to be making the Virginia Tech shootings into a race issue, but that Seung-Hui's ethnicity was not the problem.
The event culminated with the lighting of candles and a moment of silence to show respect for victims of the tragedy.
