Students gathered at Frog Baby in remembrance of victims killed in the attacks over the weekend in Paris, Baghdad and Beirut.
Sophomore international development and relations major Christina Thibodeau organized the vigil held at Frog Baby on Nov. 16. She passed out slips of paper with short descriptions of the victims of the attacks. She dedicated ten minutes for each attendee to silently pray and meditate for the victim profile they had.
“For the past year and a half, I have been frustrated with how passive our campus culture tends to be and it means a lot to see that people actually really care about this and want to pay their respects so that gives me some hope that maybe we’ll stop being so passive about issues like this,” Thibodeau said.
See more photos of the vigil in our gallery.
One of the vigil attendees, Ball State staff technician Robert Guillaud, is from France and was in attendance at the vigil.
“We have Russia, America and France that is fighting Syria. What can I do?” Guillaud said. “Is it going to solve the problem or multiply it, I don’t know.”
Guillaud has been in America since 1984, but he has brothers, sisters and other family members in France. Fortunately, his family was safe after the attacks in Paris.
“They are all okay, but it doesn’t make the situation okay,” he said.
Maggie Stolfa, a sophomore telecommunications major, looked to Facebook to make sure her aunt in Paris was okay.
“I am here praying for the victims of Paris. My aunt was in Paris this past weekend ... so that really hit home when I heard that there was actually someone I knew that was that close,” Stolfa said. “It really opened my eyes to the realities of how we aren’t safe, we don’t know what exactly is going to happen.”
Sophomore rhetoric major Karley Sharkey said she wants to do her part and donate to various organizations to help those countries.
“I would like to find some money to donate to some organizations, not just for Paris but for the whole world because more than just Paris happened,” Sharkey said. “I think that the world needs to know about it because all we’ve done is talk about Paris.”
To conclude the vigil, Thibodeau passed out a sheet that listed ways attendees can help the fight against terrorism. It described praying, paying attention to the news and fighting to support all people who have been victims of violence as well as donating to a few non-governmental organizations.
“My challenge for you is this: Remember how you felt this weekend when you found out about these attacks, remember how terrible it was to hear about all of the deaths and next time time you find yourself being apathetic, think back on this and keep going," she said.
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