The message was one of hope, helping others and working together to heal a community.
More than 1,200 Cal State San Bernardino students, faculty, staff, alumni, community leaders and local residents filled the university’s Lower Commons and surrounding areas on the evening of Dec. 7 to remember the victims of the horrific shooting on Dec. 2 at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, where 14 were killed and 21 others were wounded.
The shooting, a little less than 10 miles south of the campus, deeply affected the university – five CSUSB graduates were killed in the attack.
“We are here tonight because sorrow shared is almost always better than facing sorrow in solitude,” CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales said to those gathered at the vigil. “Our hearts go out to the families of the victims, their friends and all who are suffering.”
“This time, the tragedy was not in a distant city. It arrived on our doorstep. It entered our home,” Morales said. “It is terrible to feel vulnerable in your own community – a community where you grew up, or where you are raising your family.”
But Morales said the fear people feel now will not remain.
“We are strong. We are San Bernardino strong and we will prevail,” he said.
The vigil also featured a number of speakers each representing the university, faculty, students, the local community and various faiths.
Each speaker gave brief messages of hope, reflection and healing.
“On CSUSB’s 50th Anniversary, I wish that we had gathered to celebrate instead of to mourn. To smile instead of to weep. To plan our future instead of to reflect on the tragic past,” said Dany Doueiri, an associate professor in CSUSB’s world languages and literature department and assistant director of the university’s Center for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies.
“It may be difficult for us to dream when we still are bleeding, but I hope we can all rise up, firmly and determinately, with hope and wisdom, to fight ignorance with knowledge, violence with compassion, and hate with love,” Doueiri said. “Coyotes rise up and stand up for a better tomorrow, for a peaceful tomorrow. Take time to hug and embrace, to build and lead.”
Bryce Davis, the president of the university’s Associated Students Inc., also led the lighting of candles for all in attendance while the bell in the university’s clock tower rang 14 times in memory of each of the shooting victims.
CSUSB music major Frenzel Marlit opened the vigil by singing “Imagine” by John Lennon, and closed the program with “Let It Be” by Lennon and Paul McCartney.
To view more photos of the event by CSUSB photographer Robert Whitehead, go to 'Candlelight Vigil.' You can view a slideshow version by clicking on the 'slideshow' button on the page's upper right.
Set in the foothills of the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, CSUSB is a preeminent center of intellectual and cultural activity in inland Southern California. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015, CSUSB serves more than 20,000 students each year and graduates about 4,000 students annually.
For more information about Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.