CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A candlelight vigil is scheduled this weekend in Chicago to mark this week’s mass shooting at Michigan State University.
The Chicago Spartans alumni group will be hosting a candlelight vigil Saturday evening from 6 - 6:30 p.m. in the small park-like setting in the 400 block of North LaSalle.
According to Chicago Spartans president Fawn O’Brien, that will be followed by a gathering across the street at Tree House, an MSU-connected bar to grieve, talk and support one another.
O’Brien said the mass shooting has really affected her.
“Complete disbelief that something like that could happen at a place that I spent four of the happiest years of my life."
O’Brien said the Chicago Spartans usually raise $20-40,000 dollars for scholarships at its annual Spartyball fundraiser. This year, though, the money will be donated to the Spartan Strong Fund, which the university set up to assist victims of the mass shooting, as well as safety and mental health programs at MSU.
The alumni group leader has had a chance to talk to a few MSU students since the shooting.
“They are, you know, making the best out of it, utilizing the free counseling and mental health services that Michigan State has made available throughout campus," she said.
"Some have gone home just because, you know, being locked in a dorm room for five or six hours, you just kind of want to be with family, hug them and have a little more space.”
O’Brien added there are no words to describe “how mind-boggling and sad and disappointing it is that this is where our country is at.”
There are more than 34,000 Michigan State alums in the Chicago area, which according to O’Brien is the largest number of alums outside the state of Michigan.
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