More than 100 Elon students, faculty and staff gathered in front of Alamance Building Wednesday as part of a national school walkout that involved thousands across the country.
One was described as “a kind soul.” Another was a dancer who wanted to grow up to be an occupational therapist. About one it was said that “his smiling was contagious, and so was his laugh.”
Each of them — 18 in all — were recent victims of school shootings, with 17 of those killed on Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The 18th, 17-year-old Courtlin Arrington, was shot and killed in a classroom at Huffman High School in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 7.
Their names and a few facts about each were read starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday in front of Alamance Building as more than 100 Elon students, faculty and staff members gathered to honor their lives. Elon’s event was part of a national school walkout that saw thousands of students across the country leave their classrooms to protest gun violence.
“We’re participating in something larger than us,” said Jordan Levine ’19, who organized the Elon event with Micalah Collins ’19, Sarah Jane McDonald ’21 and Scottlyn Goodman ’21.
Levine, Collins and Goodman alternated reading each of the 18 names, and each name was followed by a minute of silence to pay tribute to their lives and remember their deaths. Members of the crowd, many of whom left class to participate in the event, locked arms as they stood in silence. Others hugged at the end of the 20-minute-long tribute.
Levine said after the gathering that the Parkland shooting had left her at a loss. “I really didn’t know how to channel my grief,” she said.
She attended a Feb. 28 vigil in McKinnon Hall in the Moseley Center, and was energized to further honor those who have been killed by gun violence. She, Collins, McDonald and Goodman began meeting and determined that the walkout would be the best way to honor these victims and give others on campus an opportunity to participate and further the discussion about gun violence.
“I hope everyone who was here today took away from this gathering what they wanted to take away,” Levine said. “I wanted to provide that avenue for students to be able to participate in something that is national. I hope that students want to get connected or more involved, they will reach out to each other and organizations on campus that are centered around things such as social justice.”