A candlelight vigil on Tuesday night will give Binghamton University students the opportunity to gather and mourn victims of the American Civic Association shootings.
City of Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan and Police Chief Joseph Zikuski will be speaking at the ceremony, which starts at 7 p.m. near the fountain outside of the Glenn G. Bartle Library. It is hosted by the Student Association.
The mayor plans to speak about the community’s loss and healing process.
“I look forward to joining with Binghamton University’s community in commemorating the lives lost and charting the path forward together,” he said.
A candle will be lit for each of the 13 victims as their biographies are read.
“This has been an unbelievable tragedy and all of us at Binghamton University extend our sympathies to family, friends, colleagues and the city of Binghamton,” BU President Lois DeFleur said. “I am very proud that so many members of our campus community have reached out to offer their services to various local agencies that responded to this terrible incident.”
On the day of the shootings, many BU students were traveling home for spring break.
“We couldn’t come together to grieve,” Student Association President Matt Landau said. “Arranging this ceremony just seemed like the right thing to do.”
Landau expects hundreds of students, faculty members and staff to attend the ceremony.
“This is our community and we need to unite,” he said.
On Sunday, April 5, city of Binghamton officials and the Broome County Council of Churches gathered at the West Middle School auditorium for a memorial service.
A crowd of 300 people of various ethnicities sang songs and prayed, before moving outside for a candlelight vigil.
“It brought everyone together like never before,” Ten-Seng Guh, a 2006 BU alumnus and attendee of the service, said.