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CLU students mourn victims of Virgina Tech attacks
Dozens gather for prayer service
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Jason Redmond / Star staff Katey Wade rings a bell for each victim of the Virginia Tech shootings during a service Tuesday at the CLU campus.
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About 75 students at California Lutheran University remembered the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings Tuesday, joining thousands of their fellow college students across the country in expressing their grief and condolences.
Perhaps the largest gathering was at Virginia Tech, where thousands of students and others filled the basketball arena, then spilled out to the football stadium for a memorial service attended by President Bush.
On countless other campuses, students expressed their thoughts in bulletins on such popular sites as MySpace.com and Facebook.com.
At CLU, a private school in Thousand Oaks, students joined in a solemn prayer service held on a grassy knoll right next to a bustling career fair.
Pastor Scott Maxwell-Doherty, opening the service, asked that those gathered "renew (their) resolve to live together in peace."
The students, faculty and staff at Virginia Tech "signed up to search for truth," he said. "They did not sign up to become acquainted with violence, grief, horror and loss of life."
After a prayer and Scripture reading, one student rang a large hand bell 33 times as a line of her classmates carried in 33 candles, lit to remember the 33 students and faculty who died Monday, including the shooter.
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Bettina Guerrero, a junior from Fillmore, joined the service because she wanted to show her respect for the victims and all those who loved them.
"Since almost all of them were students, I felt a connection to them," Guerrero said after the service. "I almost placed myself in their lives. I can't imagine what they're going through.
"It kind of puts everything back in perspective. All your worries they're insignificant. It helps you realize what's really important in life."
Near the site of the service, students and others were invited to write their thoughts on pieces of white cardboard stapled to a large folding panel.
One comment: "You are in our prayers. None of us can understand this experience, but we pray for comfort and peace."
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