The Hofstra
HEMPSTEAD, NY VOL. 79
Issue 16
Chronicle
THURSDAY february 20, 2014
KEEPING THE HOFSTRA COMMUNITY INFORMED SINCE 1935
Remembering Avonte Oquendo “I was heartbroken. I think everyone was heartbroken.”
Photo by Briana Smith A vigil was held to remember Avonte Oquendo, a 14-year-old boy with autism who escaped from school and later passed away, outside Hofstra Hall on Wednesday night.
By Briana Smith staff writer
Members of Hofstra’s NAACP Chapter, Gospel Ensemble, Zeta chapter of Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, and multiple students attended a vigil for Avonte Oquendo, the 14-year-old boy with autism who escaped from school
and whose remains were found months later along the East River. They huddled in a circle in front of Hofstra Hall to commemorate Oquendo’s tragic death. “We wanted everyone to come together as a unit to pay our respects,” Darnell Lee, President of NAACP, junior, tv production
major The presidents of the present organizations delivered a speech, the gospel sang, “Praise Is What I Do,” and then came the moment of silence as everyone’s candles continued to shine bright. Hofstra’s NAACP organized the vigil to pay their respects to
Oquendo, and after following his story for so long, they felt like they were a part of his family. “I was heart broken. I think everyone was heartbroken. I feel like everyone who lived in New York was a part of that family,” Darnell said. “Everyone posted him on their Instragrams, their
Facebooks, even when you took the Subway you saw his flyer there. You kind of felt connected to the family in a sense.”