UA Young Americans for Freedom hosted political organizations on Tuesday in mourning for the 67 lives lost in last month’s deadly aviation accident in Washington, D.C. Despite the tragedy occurring hundreds of miles away, the solemn vigil marked a moment of unity in a campus political environment fraught by ideological division.
A week ago, shock paralyzed the nation after a Black Hawk helicopter and civilian jet collided over the Potomac River. As search crews scrambled to recover the bodies of victims, America was left to contend with losses.
“When things like that happen, it is important to come together,” said Trenton Buffenbarger, president of UA YAF. “You see people after 9/11, they all came together. I don’t think those first responders cared who they were carrying out of those fires, if they’re Republican or not.”
The vigil was organized by the efforts of Buffenbarger and the rest of the UA YAF, a conservative organization, who also invited UA College Republicans and Democrats along with Common Ground, Turning Point USA and Leftist Collective to join the event. The clubs represent the broad range of political beliefs present across campus. Together, the group gathered by Denny Chimes, passed out LED candles and stood in a moment of mourning and prayer.
“I think what separates America from every other country is the fact that, even though most of us disagree with each other, we can come together in times like these and unify,” Buffenbarger said in a speech addressed to the crowd.
Buffenbarger delivered his speech before ceding the floor to other mourners, who recounted some of their connections to the victims of the accident. One student — Mary Elizabeth Miller, vice president of Turning Point USA — recalled her flight to Charlotte over the winter break, where one of the victims of the D.C. accident was a flight attendant.
“I’d known him for minutes, but the one thing I can say about him is he had such a spirit of joy,” she said. “It’s important that through our grief, we see the joy in the lives that were lived. … They still are beautiful and they have meaning.”
Afterwards, Buffenbarger led the group in prayer and a group of students sang “Amazing Grace.”
Representatives in attendance from groups around campus included Jason Odom, president of UA Common Ground. He said that the political organizations around campus are a lot more connected than they’re given credit for, thanks to their shared dedication to being informed and commitment to similar paths of study. He credited Common Ground with building a lot of connections between members of different student political groups.
“A lot of the political clubs on campus do host events or cooperate with each other,” Odom said. “I think it’s a really good way of bringing everybody together to recognize that some awful stuff has happened.”
