The sound of Brown University’s Alma Mater filled Willard Straight Hall on Saturday afternoon during a vigil held in remembrance of the two students killed at Brown during the Dec. 13 mass shooting.
Hosted by the Student Assembly, the vigil included speeches from Assembly representatives and a performance of Brown’s Alma Mater by the Touchtones a cappella group. The event was originally scheduled to take place on Ho Plaza, but was moved inside due to intense wind gusts and the coldest air of the season.
The goal of the vigil was to “give members of the Cornell community a chance to come together and stand alongside Brown during this tragic incident,” wrote Lydia Blum ’27, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences representative for the Student Assembly and an organizer of Saturday’s vigil, in a message to The Sun.
The vigil corresponded with a similar event at Brown University, where a memorial service was held at 4 p.m. across eight locations on the campus for a “shared moment of remembrance, healing and recovery,” according to the event description.
Brown asked the Ivies “to host a single and simultaneous evening gathering … to bring people together for communal remembrance, mourning, and care in solidarity,” according to Dartmouth College’s student government.
“Events like this can seem small, but [that’s] the beauty about community; you can feel its presence in masses and in small groups,” Blum wrote in a statement to The Sun.
Blum opened the vigil by speaking about the importance of community after tragedy, and led a moment of silence for undergraduate students Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, both of whom died in the shooting.
“Although we didn’t know them personally, their absences are certainly felt,” Blum said during the event. “The best that we can do is stand together and have this community.”
The Touchtones, an all-treble student a cappella group, followed Blum’s remarks by blanketing Willard Straight with a rendition of Brown’s Alma Mater.
Following the shooting, Cornell released a statement regarding security procedures on campus. In the statement, the University asked students to review existing safety guidelines and wrote that Cornell is “working with Brown and our Ivy League partners to understand and learn from recent events and to implement best practices.”
“I think it was a preventable tragedy and I hope that we all have the resolve to not let it happen again,” said LGBTQIA+ representative for the Student Assembly and vigil organizer Alexander Walters ’28 during the event.
Blum concluded the event with closing remarks about “carry[ing] difficult moments together,” and emphasized showing up for each other. A recording of the vigil is expected to be released by the Student Assembly.
“It’s important that Cornell shows that Brown is not alone,” Blum wrote in a statement to The Sun, adding that “Ivy Leagues are united … in our compassion, resilience, and support for one another.”
