A crowd of about 120 people gathered by a grove of cherry blossom trees last night to pay tribute to victims and support survivors of the earthquake and tsunamithat shook Japan last month.
The ceremony, hosted by the Office of the President, Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, Center for International Studies and Division of Student Affairs, concluded with a candle-lit moment of silence as flood lights illuminated the cherry blossoms, a gift from Ohio University’s sister school in Japan.
Five guest speakers, including OU President Roderick McDavis, Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl and Hiroyuki Oshita, coordinator of OU’s Japanese program, touched on the disaster’s far-reaching impact.
“The tsunami, the earthquake — it has a ripple effect,” said Wiehl. “… We’re all interrelated in a sense. This has brought us together. Our sympathies go out to them.”
In 1979, Chubu University gave 175 cherry blossoms to OU, adding 25 in 2004 to celebrate the university’s bicentennial. After years of hosting each other’s students studying abroad, the trees came to represent the bond between the two schools and still represent that relationship today, McDavis said.
“We are joined at the hip with our friends, our colleagues (at Chubu) …” McDavis said. “These trees will stand forever. It is that link that will keep us together.”
No one at Chubu was injured as a result of the March 11 national disaster. The vigil was held for those associated with OU’s sister school but also for all those affected by the tragedy.
“We are one people. We are united. We are here to share our sadness, our grief … but we have hope for the future,” McDavis said.
The Japanese Student Association raised $1,000 for tsunami relief, said Treasurer Hideyuki Tanaka, who spoke last at the ceremony.
“I personally felt shocked (on March 11). It was a worst-case scenario. As I read the news I was worried about my friends and family,” Tanaka said. “… To have a ceremony like this has great meaning to the Japanese people.”
Although it’s been nearly a month since the earthquake, some in attendance were brought to tears remembering the events that, in a few cases, hit too close to home.
“It’s not one disaster that killed 10,000 people. It’s 10,000 individual tragedies,” Oshita said.
ph835608@ohiou.edu
@ThePostCampus
