Pitt students unite, hold vigil after months of campus evacuations

The 10 people remaining at the end of yesterday’s vigil on the Cathedral of Learning lawn… The 10 people remaining at the end of yesterday’s vigil on the Cathedral of Learning lawn huddled close and braced themselves against the cold as wind whipped through their clothes and carried the sound of their prayers and sniffles toward Heinz Chapel.

For two hours, about 50 people — mostly Pitt students — stood in a nondenominational circle on the lawn and prayed for a quick resolution to Pitt’s string of recent bomb threats and for Pitt students and staff who have been affected by the threats.

They took turns speaking, starting at 6 p.m., and read Scripture from pocket Bibles and smart phones.

Pitt junior Anthony Bilan said that he originally invited three people to the vigil, but when he later checked the Facebook event page, he saw that the guest list had quickly expanded.

Bilan doesn’t belong to a Christian group on campus and said he does not have the time to attend church regularly.

“For me, Christianity is a very personal thing,” Bilan said. “I am usually very out of my element at these things.”

But with the recent stress and inconvenience to which students have been subjected on a campus plagued by bomb threats and evacuations, Bilan said he felt a need for spiritual support.

“I heard there were a lot of people who were afraid and frustrated that there is nothing they can do,” Bilan said.

Greg Voss, chair of the University of Pittsburgh Association of Chaplaincies, said he heard about the vigil online. He has been holding his own vigils at Heinz Chapel in response to the bomb threats at noon every day for the past week.

“We get mostly faculty for our vigils, but we would love to reach out to students,” Voss said.

Freshman Allegra Wollenberg is a member of two Christian organizations, InterVarsity and Cru.

Wollenberg said that she has been impressed with the campus community’s response to the threats and that the vigil is just another example of the student body coming together.

“Even the nonbelievers are opening their hearts and homes,” she said.