We didn’t expect to be thrust into the national spotlight in this way. We didn’t expect we’d become another member of a long, growing list of cities that have been the victims of mass shootings. Squirrel Hill is a peaceful, historically Jewish neighborhood about a mile away from Pitt’s campus — too close to home for it to happen to us.

It is in bleak times like this that members of the community need to be proactive instead of reactive in order to bring comfort and safety to their fellow neighbors, and to prevent acts of violence like this from occurring in the future.

Hundreds of Pittsburgh community members gathered to mourn the victims of the deadly shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue on Saturday, which authorities are investigating as a hate crime in one of America's most deeply rooted Jewish neighborhoods.