Students from college campuses that have died from a drug- or alcohol-related incident will be remembered at 5 p.m. today on the Quad in front of the Art Museum.
Ball State students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to give a remembrance of a loved one lost.
Student Government Association President Matt Whitlock, who will open the ceremony, said he hopes students will take the time to attend and learn more about what sources the university offers.
"The ceremony is not only for the individual that passed away two weeks ago. We want to allow his friends to have a memorial," he said, "but, realizing he was an IU student, we wanted to be more expansive as far as memorializing."
Whitlock said an event like this can bring a powerful message to students.
"The less we remember, the more there is a risk of us not looking to the future, not realizing these risks," he said. "It's good to remember there's risk out there. It's a sobering topic, but it can be very positive, it can have a very positive effect on students."
Chelsea Wheeler, president of the Residence Hall Association, will attend the event and give a speech.
"I think it's good that students are getting together. It's a good part of the healing process," she said. "I think Ball State is being proactive, recognizing that this is an issue in college campuses."
Wheeler said she expects students to show up if they have been affected directly or indirectly by a student death.
"I think it's a symbolic ceremony," she said. "We are having this meeting as kind of a ceremony to heal."
SGA, RHA, greek councils, Peer Health Educators and the Division of Student Affairs are sponsoring the event.
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