In light of the Boston Marathon bombing, which occurred Monday, April 15th, it is safe to say people everywhere are trying to show support. This tragedy has killed 3 people, injured more than 150 victims, and has shaken our country. Here at Bryant, hundreds of students call Boston and Massachusetts their home. Our campus is only 40 minutes away from the heart of Boston and this heartbreak has hit too close to our community.
Ashley Cardona, a freshman at Bryant, suggested the idea on Monday night to our President, Ronald Machtley. Ashley lives 15 minutes outside of Boston and felt overwhelmed with helplessness. Ashley said, “As for the run it was just out of pure disparity. I sat in class yearning to be home just to know all my friends and family were okay. It was just shocking that such vulnerable people were exposed to such harmful actions, leaving them utterly defenseless; it made me sick to my stomach.”
She then continued to explain, “I went on twitter, and saw on a few accounts I follow all of them were promoting #NationalRunForBoston the day after the bombings and I was like yeah, I’ll devote my daily run to them. I shared my idea with my friend Megan who works out with me too and my boyfriend was the one who said it was meaningful. I then went into a super proactive mode, printed 50 flyers at midnight, and put them up around the school. I emailed President Machtley at 12:15 in the morning. The wait for him to respond seemed like an eternity but he loved my idea and we started to seriously promote!”
President Machtley approved the run and sent a campus-wide email on Tuesday morning, for the race to begin at 2:50 pm, after a moment of silence in recognition for the victims. About 200 members of the Bryant community came together Tuesday afternoon, to show unified support to those affected. Participants ran and walked a one-mile route around campus.
At Her Campus Bryant we had to share this story with all our readers. We congratulate you Ashley for this awesome idea and going through with it. We are all so proud to have a college with such strong sense of unity and strength. We have all of the victims and those affected in our thoughts and want to thank all of the first responders for everything they do, not just in Boston, but everywhere too.
Check out some highlights from our run here:
Images taken from Smithfield Patch