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More than 100 people attended the
Candlelight Vigil at R-MC
Click on Japan to view photos from
the vigil. |
More than 100 people attended a candlelight vigil for the people of Japan at Randolph-Macon College on Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Included in this service were testimonials, singing and prayers for R-MC alumna Taylor Anderson, class of 2008. Anderson has been teaching English in Japan since graduating from R-MC and was working in Ishinomaki, Japan when the earthquake and tsunami struck. Anderson’s family is still waiting to make contact with her. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Taylor and her family,” says President Robert R. Lindgren. “We are following the news and anxiously await word from her parents that she has been located.”
The candlelight vigil was planned by R-MC
Chaplain Darrell Headrick, graduate assistant and R-MC alumna Maryanne DallaValle ’10, and
international program coordinator and Tokyo native Mayumi Nakamura. “I felt that we needed to provide the Randolph-Macon family an opportunity to come together and respond to these events, “says Headrick. “I think the large turnout of students, faculty and staff showed the care and concern our campus community has for the people of Japan.”
Attendees were visibly moved by testimonials given by Nakamura, Professor Charles Andrews the Luce/ASIANetwork Fellow in
Asian Studies at R-MC, and DallaValle, who is a friend of Anderson. Nakamura shared her feelings about what is happening to her country saying, “I asked all my family and friends back in Japan to be praying at the same time as our vigil because the impact of collective thought and intention cannot be undervalued. I believe that it truly emerged as a moment of connection between Japan and the U.S. and beyond, and that our thoughts and prayers will continue reaching out to the people who are seeking strength and comfort during this difficult time.” Andrews also gave a personal account about his experience living in one of the areas affected by the quake and tsunami. DallaValle shared stories about Anderson and her deep ties to the Randolph-Macon community.
Headrick led everyone in attendance with the lighting of candles, which symbolized hope, and called for a moment of silence. He said, “Let us at this vigil experience fully, this moment of connection with the Japanese people. May it be a moment in which our thoughts, prayers, meditations and concerns are fully directed to the Japanese people, Taylor and her family.” He concluded the vigil by asking everyone to sing “Amazing Grace,” which he considers “a hymn that has come to transcend religion and nationality.”
R-MC student groups, including the Japanese Interest Club and the International Student Group, have set up fundraising efforts for Japanese relief.