As the afternoon storms disappeared Tuesday, a rainbow appeared and a crowd of more than 600 people stood in silence as Century Tower’s bells rang 49 times.
The crowd gathered to hear seven speakers and take part in a candlelight vigil during the Pulse Commemoration and Unity Ceremony, honoring the 49 lives that were lost on June 12.
UF illuminated Century Tower in rainbow colors June 16, and the tower will remain lit up until Friday, then changing to red, white and blue for the Fourth of July.
Sara Tanner, the director of marketing and communications for UF Student Affairs, said the event is about standing together in times of tragedy. With Summer B just beginning, she said, many freshmen probably attended the ceremony as their first non-Preview event on campus.
A crowd stands with candles on Tuesday evening in front of Century Tower during the Pulse Commemoration and Unity Ceremony.
“We wanted to make sure incoming students know that this is a culture that cares about one another and that every Gator matters,” she said.
Approximately 650 students, faculty and staff were in attendance, Tanner said.
UF President Kent Fuchs said that, although the past cannot be changed, the community could use love and kindness to create a better future.
“I have not seen such a turnout ever before,” Fuchs said in an interview after his speech.
LB Hannahs, the event’s master of ceremonies and the director of LGBT Affairs at UF, spoke about the One Pulse Unity Project that is scheduled to begin July 7 and will run for 49 days.
She said the project will encourage students to write messages of support on paper, which will then be linked together and displayed in the Reitz Union.
Emely Haviaras (right), a 26-year-old UF Health Hospital employee, and her girlfriend, Ashley Jarrell, a 26-year-old UF College of Medicine employee, listen to a song played on Tuesday evening in front of Century Tower.
“It’s about asking, ‘What can we do to make our community at UF and in Gainesville a better place?’” she said.
Director Gabe Lara and Program Coordinator Diana Moreno, both from Hispanic-Latino Affairs, read the name and age of each of the 49 people who died at the club.
Moreno fought tears as she read some of the names.
“It never gets any easier,” she said.
Moreno said many of the names sound like hers, and many of their faces seem equally familiar.
Students from Orlando comprise a large part of the university’s population, and many of those students are part of the LGBTQ+ and Latinx communities, UF spokesman Steve Orlando said.
Carolyn Imes, a 17-year-old UF international studies and management freshman, said the ceremony was the first event she experienced at the university.
“It was a good start,” she said. “It shows that UF cares about all of their students.”
Frances Patala, a 20-year-old UF animal sciences senior, listens to the speeches made on Tuesday evening at the Pulse Commemoration and Unity Ceremony. About 650 people came to the event, which included seven speakers and a candlelight vigil.
