Vonnie Vuagniaux is only 17, but she may have spoken for thousands after attending Monday night’s candlelight vigil at UC San Diego for the victims of the UC Santa Barbara killing spree.
“As one of the people that spoke and got a view over the crowd and saw each of your individual candles as they were raised, I would like to say that in my short 17 years of life, I have seldom experienced anything so beautiful and so hopeful,” she posted on the Facebook page that drew hundreds to the La Jolla campus.
“Thank you for this experience. Truly, I have never been more proud to be human.”
A long blog post captured many of the night’s emotions:
I wear many hats in my life. I’m a daughter. A sister. A girlfriend. An Aunt. A friend. A gapper. And a GAUCHO. I wear my Gaucho hat with so much pride. I think of my time at UCSB with so much happiness in my heart. Having that joy robbed for so many that had to endure firsthand the events that unfolded in Isla Vista on Friday breaks my heart. To know that another family is struggling with the loss of their child makes me sick. To know that friends have been lost that can never be replaced makes me so sad.
We know that the Isla Vista community is resilient. They will rise up and find a way to cope. They will be stronger for it. Nothing will ever make it okay though and nothing will ever make it alright.
I brought a sign with me to the vigil with the names of the victims listed. The incredible organizer of the vigil, Julia, saw that I was wearing a UCSB sweatshirt and holding the sign and introduced herself. She told me to come up where she was standing so I could see the steady stream of people that came out to show support. As I hoisted myself up to her perch I couldn’t believe the amount of people that I was seeing. We stood there with our arms wrapped around each other. Tears streamed down my cheeks. We were total strangers having a moment. It doesn’t get more powerful than that.
Whether you are a Triton, Banana Slug, Trojan, Anteater, Bear, Gunrock, Oski, or a Gaucho…we all make up the University of California community. As I watched candles being raised high in the air, I felt proud to call myself alumni of such a prestigious group.
Spreading love is the most important thing we do. The final speaker at the vigil led all attendees in our signature Gaucho battle cry…
“Oooooole, Ole, Ole, Oleeeeee. GAU-CHOOOO, GAU-CHOOOOOOOO…”
Where you see bad, you will always see good too. That was apparent this evening more so than ever. Keep these names in your heart. These are the names you want to remember.
Veronika Weiss
Katie Cooper
Chris Martinez
Cheng Yuan Hong
George Chen
Weihan Wang
