Reasons for returning to campus vary
By SARAH OWEN – Shaw Newspapers
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| Michael Floyd writes a message on the back of a cross remembering Ryanne Mace, who was killed along with four other Northern Illinois Students, while in class at Cole Hall one year ago. Floyd was friends with Ryanne while they were both students at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville. (Sandy Bressner – sbressner@nwnewsgroup.com) |
DEKALB – Some came to remember; others came despite their memories.
Alumnus Matt Jaklic, 22, was on the campus of Northern Illinois University last Feb. 14, the day a former NIU student opened fire in Room 101 of Cole Hall, killing five people and injuring another 21 before turning the gun on himself.
Jaklic came back Saturday to make sure the significance of the day doesn’t fade. There were multiple memorial events at NIU on Saturday to mark the year since the shooting.
“I just don’t want to forget about what happened,” he said. “It’s really important to have this memorial.”
Erin Finucane, a DeKalb native, is in her second semester at NIU. She said, although the shooting jolted her, it didn’t affect her decision to attend the university.
“NIU is a huge part of my life,” said Finucane, 18. “Both my parents work on campus. I never thought it could hit that close to home, but I feel like NIU is really a safe place, even though that happened.”
She visited the campus this weekend to express her gratitude for everyone who helped the community recover and out of respect for the victims’ families.
Sophomore Mike DeSantis, 20, volunteered as a door greeter at the Images of Hope Project in Holmes Student Center. The project invited people to submit images they found hopeful.
“Obviously, it was a tragic thing, but also – the room that it happened in? I had a class 2 hours before in the exact same classroom,” DeSantis said. “It made me realize how lucky I am. I volunteered today to help people out and to relay that information to other people: Sometimes life may seem kind of bad, but you have to realize you’re lucky for what you do have.”
Danica Perinat, a December graduate of NIU, visited campus Saturday to honor friends who were in Room 101 of Cole Hall last year. She said she picked up two friends from Cole Hall immediately after the shooting.
“I got there before the cops got there,” said Perinat, 23. “My friend had a gunshot hole in his jacket. His friend next to him was shot. They told me everything.”
She doesn’t think she’ll ever forget their detailed accounts of “how everything went down,” she said.
“I don’t know if ‘stronger’ is the word for how I feel today,” Perinat said. “You know how people are like, ‘This is never going to happen to me?’ It just hit home.”
Shaala Sherman, 35, an anthropology graduate student, was on campus a year ago. She didn’t want to be there this year.
“I’m here because of an assignment for a class,” Sherman said. “Otherwise, honestly, I don’t think I’d be here. Last year was really, really horrible. I kind of freaked out for a while. I healed; I’m fine now. I just really didn’t want to revisit this.”
