Thousands of Dukes come together at candlelight vigil to remember lives lost

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY & MICHAEL RUSSO The Breeze

John “Luke” Fergusson loved the Washington Commanders and hitting the griddy.

Joshua Mardis picked a random roommate when he came to JMU, even though he already had friends on campus.

Nicholas Troutman had a list of inside jokes with his best friend, who he met at seventh-grade football tryouts.

Around 2,000 JMU community members gathered on the Quad on Sunday night to mourn and honor the three students who died in a car accident Thursday night. Two other students, Campbell Fortune and Baird Weisleder, were seriously injured in the crash. At the vigil, JMU President Jonathan Alger announced Fortune was recently released from the hospital.

The night was quiet, save for the soft piano music playing over the speakers and the sniffles that emerged from the silent crowd, heads lowered and candles lit.

Alger started the ceremony by asking the community to “share light in the darkness” and to be there for one another.

“I ask that each of us, in our own way, lift up the families and friends of the students in our thoughts, prayers and actions,” Alger said. “We can’t bring back the lives that have been lost, but we can honor them by sharing love, compassion and kindness with one another. No one is alone here.”

Matt Winters, a pastor at Harrisonburg Baptist Church, said people gathered at the church across the street from the Pi Beta Chi chapter house following the announcement of Fergusson’s, Mardis’ and Troutman’s deaths Friday.

“We just had some time to be together, and we heard the stories of how, just abruptly, life was taken, and our hearts were heavy,” Winters said. “And the grief just filled the room and we felt like these words, we couldn’t sing anymore. Everything was just ripped away from us, and our lives turned upside down.” see VIGIL, page 4

Softball pitchers enter new season with confidence, trust

By SAVANNAH REGER

The Breeze

Whiff. Smack. Again.

Whiff. Smack.

JMU softball stood on its field, surrounded by the new $2,852,000 renovations to Veteran’s Memorial Park. JMU head coach Loren LaPorte spoke to the team as another practice drew to a close and the team broke a huddle, shouting “grit.”