Members of the Penn State community lit candles last night to counter the visibility of hate crimes and to show unity for those targeted by injurious actions.
More than 200 people shared experiences, pain and a hope for the future during a candlelight vigil with the theme, "Take Back Our Campus" at 10 p.m. on Old Main lawn.
The racist letters sent to four members of the campus community are just one example of the surge in intolerance.
"All the stuff that's been happening recently has been cutting our campus into different sections," Amy Coyne (senior-marketing) said.
The vigil was not sponsored by any one group. It is the fruit of the frustration of Lynn Thompson (senior-women's studies and comparative literature), co-director of Womyn's Concerns and Lambda Student Alliance, and Jennifer Storm (junior-rehabilitation education), co-president of Lambda Delta Lambda sorority and the social director for the Lambda Student Alliance.
After discussing their frustration, they wondered what they could do to amend the situation. They decided to bring together groups in a unified stance to say that hateful behavior would not be tolerated at Penn State.
They have been on a campaign for the past week, advertising with groups across campus through paper fliers, as well as e-mail.
Their efforts paid off as organizations from the campus and community joined together to begin the vigil in a moment of silence.
Realizing that nothing changes overnight, Storm said that change is all about awareness.
"It's an awareness that you gain from attending these kinds of programs," said Storm. "The only way that you can get rid of intolerance and hate is on an individual level."
The event, part Unity Week, included speakers such as Sue Rankin, senior diversity analyst for the Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity, and was supported by the State College community as well.
"We do have a lot of community support. The mayor's coming," Storm said.
Members of the administration were also in attendance with campus student organizations such as Black Caucus and Allies represented by individuals and small groups dispersed throughout the crowd.
To some, the recent outbreak of intolerance is not a surprise, but to some the most important thing that came out of the hateful acts was the union of groups to discuss the issues behind them.
"We must stand together from this night forward," Rankin said, unifying the crowd under the cries of "No more" with each sentence about intolerance and ignorance that she said.
After the vigil under the cloud-speckled sky, there was an open microphone opportunity for individuals from the crowd to talk about their experiences with hate on campus. Members of the media were asked to respect the privacy of those individuals.
