Students At Grand Valley Pay Tribute to Pittsburgh Synagogue Victims

Candles were lit yesterday at Grand Valley State's Allendale campus on Monday to honor the 11 people that were shot and killed at Tree of Life Congregation synagogue in Pittsburgh.

According to WZZM, over two hundred people attended the vigil that was put together by the university's chapter of Hillel and the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi.

Senior and Hillel president, Allison Egrin said, "How do you tell innocent children that there are people in the world who hate us simply because we're Jewish?"

President of GVSU Alpha Epsilon Pi, Morgan Mattler said, "I find myself at a loss for words, feeling so broken, no only because these 11 lives were lost, but because this could've been any Jewish community around this country, around this world. My Jewish community is no different."

The leader of the Reform congregation at Temple Emanuel on Fulton Street in Grand Rapids, Rabbi Michael Schadick said, "When Jews suffer any kind of antisemitism, no matter where it happens, we all feel that same sense of pain and antisemitism because there aren't that many of us. We're all responsible for each other."

Grand Valley State University President, Thomas Haas said, "We can do the best we can to make changes where it needs to be done. We have the power to do that."

Grand Valley Junior Zack Krischner said, "On Saturday when I woke up, I was proud to be a Jew. On sunday when I went to bed, I was proud to be a Jew. We won't accept any hate speech. We want to instill a positive energy into this community."