ECC pauses to remember victims at NIU

Hundreds of Elgin Community College community members, many wearing NIU apparel, gathered Wednesday for a remembrance ceremony on campus.

Speaking from a podium surrounded by 22 white candles, ECC President David Sam told the crowd "what happened at NIU happened to all of us.

"Many of our students transfer to Northern. There's a kinship there," Sam said.

The ceremony, which began with a moment of silence, included a student performance of John Lennon's "Imagine" and a reading of Virginia Tech English professor Nikki Giovanni's poems.

People placed white carnations into a woven basket, symbolizing those affected by the tragedy.

As the ceremony drew to a close, students had the opportunity to express their own thoughts to the group.

"Am I going to be safe?" one student asked. "Will something like this happen to ECC directly?"

Tony Wood, a 20-year-old student from Algonquin, spoke about losing two close friends, Ryanne Mace and Dan Parmenter, in the shooting.

"The fact that I lost two friends … sounds like a statistic," he said through tears. "Thank you all for coming. It really helps."

Since the incident, a banner has been erected for students and others to sign in a show of support for NIU.

ECC plans to send the banner, now hanging outside the cafeteria, to NIU, student Trustee Sarah Keissami said.

Along with current students, NIU students who had transferred from ECC were also in attendance. Ashley Bruening, 20, an elementary education major at NIU, transferred from ECC last fall.

At home in Dundee this week, Bruening said she "wanted to show ECC students that Northern is still a good place to go. We're a strong family, and we're even stronger now."