The Office of Inclusion and Diversity is planning a unity service to pay tribute to the many lives lost in the Orlando, Florida, terrorist attack Sunday morning. Forty-nine people died in the mass shooting at a gay nightclub minutes from Orlando's downtown.
The unity service is tentatively planned for Thursday, June 16 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Foy Auditorium. The organized service follows a somewhat impromptu vigil held Monday night at Toomer's Corner.
According to event organizer Venus Hewing, a student advocate in the office, the event is intended to serve as a debriefing memorial for those in Auburn affected emotionally by the country's largest mass shooting to date.
"Research shows that after a crisis, tragedy occurs, immediate debriefing in the form of counseling and/or some type of service, memorial is the first step in the healing process," Hewing wrote in an email announcing the event. "Although there have been no reports that anyone from the Auburn Family were part of the casualties, we have all been impacted in one way or the other."
Hewing said the organizers have reserved the Foy Auditorium and a tentative program comprised of having members of the Christian, Muslim and Unitarian faiths provide prayers. Additionally, representatives from Auburn's Spectrum, Black Student Union, Student Government and the Muslim Student Association will be speaking at the service.
Senior administrators have been asked to be a part of the program.
"The purpose of the unity service is to acknowledge the lives that were lost and the people who were injured during this tragedy as well as provide a space for members of the Auburn community to stand in solidarity against hatred, bigotry, prejudice and discrimination regardless of their sexual identity, religion, race and ethnic background," Hewing said.
Speakers will provide reflections through spoken word, poetry and song. Ribbons, both rainbow and orange and blue, will be provided for attendees. The names and faces of the 49 individuals who lost their lives Sunday will be shown on a screen.
According to the Associated Press, 49 people died in the attack Sunday and more than 50 others were wounded in the attack on Pulse Orlando club, a gay nightclub.
Officials from the FBI and the White House confirmed that the killer, Omar Mateen, was a "homegrown extremist" who "espoused support for a jumble of often-conflicting Islamic organizations."
Mateen's father suggested another motive that has some saying this attack was a hate crime in addition to a terrorist attack: homophobia. The father said Mateen became angry months prior when two men kissed in front of his family in Miami, which later led to his attack on the gay nightclub.
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