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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Featured Galleries: April 20, 2007 SOU vigil brings grief home By Chris Conrad and Shirley Wentworth For the Tidings ABOVE : Jessie Carper, a Virginia Tech alumni from 2005, speaks to the crowd about the loss of her friend who was killed in the shooting. FRONT : Students and faculty walk from the campus to the Plaza Tuesday to honor those killed in Monday’s Virginia Tech shooting. Virginia Tech may be 2,500 miles from Ashland, but it felt a lot closer Thursday night during a candlelight vigil outside Southern Oregon University's Stevenson Union. At least two people in attendance had ties to the university in Blacksburg, Va., where a gunman massacred 32 people early Monday. Mike Rice, a 1970 Virginia Tech graduate, spoke to the crowd of around 70 people who held candles in Stevenson Union's courtyard. "A huge portion of my graduating high school class attended Virginia Tech," Rice said. "I've been calling them to find out if any of their children were involved in this." Rice wasn't alone in his concern for friends and loved ones who may have fallen in the shooting spree. Ashland resident Jessie Carper, who studied fine arts at Virginia Tech, lost her friend Julia Pryde, who was killed at Norris Hall, which housed many of Virginia Tech's engineering classes. "I know Julia would not be mad at the man who took her life," Carper said. "She wasn't that way." Carper said she and Pryde shared a love of bluegrass music and shared a group of friends. "She wanted to help with water quality in places like Ecuador," Carper said. "I hadn't spoken to her in about a year because she was always traveling. She was one of our closest friends in our bluegrass group." SOU councilors are encouraging students who need to discuss their feelings about the tragedy to contact the ACCESS Center at 552-6213 to set up an appointment. Rice came to the mike to succinctly say, "Virginia Tech seemed a long way away on Monday. It seems less now, thanks to you guys." Carper talked about the feeling of being out of the university for two years and thinking she didn't know anyone there anymore. Yet, she called an acquaintance to asked about a close friend. No one knew where she was and Carper said she knew something wasn't right. Thursday she offered a testimonial to her friend, Julia to ensure she would be remembered. The 50 or so people who met at the university walked downtown with candles, acknowledged by some Sisikiyou Boulevard drivers, gathered quietly, talking in small groups. Given that the fliers for the vigil didn't go out until Wednesday morning, Alex Holmes, event organizer and SOU sophomore preparing for nursing studies, was pleased with the turn out. He was also appreciative that both the university president and vice president found time to speak at the vigil. Holmes said he didn't know that anyone at SOU had ties to Virginia Tech, but that the fact that several people from Blacksburg came to speak was gratifying. "That really made the connection between us and them clear," he said, going on to say that the branches shooting out unexpectedly will continue to make even more connections. SOU President Mary Cullinan did talk about the sense of family that arises among those who are university students and those who work at universities, anywhere in the country. "When a tragedy hits even one piece of the family, we all feel affected," she said, adding that the university will participate in the 9 a.m. Friday morning moment of silence, after which the bells would ring 33 times — for each person who died. Vice President Jonathan Eldridge also spoke, talking in terms of legacies: of what people learn, research and participate in, reminding people of how many are killed in Iraq each day, asking what our collective legacy will be. He also questioned what we will wonder about what the legacy of those killed at Virginia Tech would have been as well as those killed in Iraq — and how to carry through with those legacies. Eldridge said: "I choose to remain hopeful about our collective legacy .... ensuring we take care of our collective humanity," he said. "I want to remind everyone — take a look at the people next to you — because it could be any of us ... any institution in the country." Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising: Debt Help Inkjet Printers Payday Loans Free Ringtones Debt Consolidation Security Systems Debt Relief New Hampshire Primary Advertisement: Copyright © 2007 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved. Del.icio.us