A record number of student deaths shook the University community this year, more than any year in the past. The 24 students and 16 faculty and staff members who died between May 2007 and May 2008 will be honored today at the University’s eighth annual candlelight vigil at the University Chapel.

The tolling of the chapel bell will echo each name of the deceased as they are read by William Vencill, University Council Executive Committee chair, Shannon Scott, staff council president and Connor McCarthy, Student Government Association president.

McCarthy, who recently bore the task of reading the names of the students killed in the Virginia Tech massacre at a similar vigil, said this ceremony will hit “closer to home.”

“It’s incredibly devastating to know that so many students passed this year,” he said. “There are going to be hundreds of people there who knew at least one of … those names.”

McCarthy was told by former SGA President Katy Bowers that reading the names of lost peers was “the most difficult” of her duties as president.

“I don’t think you can prepare for something like this,” he said. “We have 32,000 students this year, but each person is important to us. It’s just really difficult to wrap your mind around.”

The service will take place at 7 p.m.

Click on the PDF in the left column for the full memorial.