Author: Jeremy Candelas
This week, Cornell was shaken by the tragic announcement of the death of President Elizabeth Garrett following her brave battle with colon cancer. In this time of unspeakable tragedy, Cornellians gathered together in a show of strength and unity to pay their respects to Garrett.
On the day of the announcement, over 1000 members of the community gathered on the Arts Quad at 4:00 PM to join in a moment of silence–across campus, many others gathered in other locations at the same time. This moment of silence was followed by a solemn chimes concert, and the Cornell University Glee Club and Cornell University Chorus singing “The Cornell Evening Song” on Ho Plaza.
Following this, many students took the time to further pay their respects in other ways. One group of students took the time to gather near the A.D. White statue and join in prayer for President Garrett, her friends and family, and the campus as a whole.
Making a return was a card-signing, with words of sympathy and support from members of the Cornell community to be given to President Garrett’s family. Chris Arce ‘19, one of the organizers of the card-signing last month following Garrett’s announcement of her diagnosis and treatment, also helped to organize the card-signing following this tragic news.
Arce went on to join forces again with Jade Womack, a graduate student studying Applied Economics Management, to organize a candlelight vigil Tuesday night. At this vigil, over 500 members of the community gathered together to pay their respects on Ho Plaza, lighting candles while individuals such as Arce and Womack; Vice President of Student and Campus Life, Ryan Lombardi; Michaela Olson ‘16, former drum major of the Big Red Marching Band; and Tyler Alicea, former editor-in-chief of the Cornell Daily Sun, spoke emotionally of their memories of President Garrett, offering words of hope and support for the Cornell community.
In addition to the card-signing and candlelighting at the vigil, organizers of the event stated on the Facebook event page that they had collected $279 in donations, to be donated to the Weill Cornell Colon Cancer Fund.
In words that we do not believe should be reduced to mere excerpts, Chris Arce had the following to say when asked what impact he hoped that the vigil was able to leave upon the Cornell community:
[quote]I hope that the vigil was able to remind the Cornell community that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. What stands out in my mind is what president Garrett said at the new student convocation in August- that our goals and purposes should extend beyond ourselves. Tonight hundreds of students came together as part of something greater than themselves, a family. We came together as a community that mourned but also celebrated the life of President Garrett. President Garrett’s time as President taught us that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, that we should be engaged locally and globally. Moving forward I am confident that the community will honor the legacy of President Garrett by being focused not only on themselves and their future, but those around them, and totally embrace the adventure and challenge that we embarked upon by coming to Cornell.[/quote]
Moving forward, we continue to keep the family and friends of President Garrett, and the rest of the Cornell community, in our thoughts and prayers. In light of such sorrowful events, we can only hope that moving forward, we will continue to see a united Cornell student body who displayed such strong virtues of compassion, reverence, and unity. Such marks are those that “the quintessential Cornellian,” Elizabeth Garrett would have been so proud to see on display.
