Students Mourn Riot Victims

More than 100 people held a silent vigil outside the Gutman Library yesterday, ringing a bell for the approximately 60 people who died in lastweek's riots in the wake of the Rodney King verdict.

After 15 minutes of silence, a graduate student read the names of the nearly 60 people who died in the rioting, ringing the bell after each name. He rang the bell 16 times for the 16 unidentified victims.

The acquittal of the four white police officers in the videotaped beating of King sparked a series of riots in Los Angeles and other cities, and have focused national attention on race relations in the country.

The group, comprised of students and faculty at the Education School, called itself the Harvard Coalition Against the L.A. Verdict. It plans to hold a town meeting next Tuesday to discuss the issues raised by the verdict.

"This is just the initial phase of a process where people regardless of their views, come together who are paining," said Ira Thomas, an Education School student who organized the vigil so students could express their feelings about the case.

"It was a demonstration," said Thomas, "that there is something fundamentally wrong with this society."

Several students described the gathering as an emotional outlet. the end of the 40 minute event , many students and faculty were in tears and were hugging each other.

"The vigil helped ease my sense of isolation, seeing people of different backgrounds and faculty committed to changing things in this country," said Clair Fox, a staff assistant in the school's students affairs office.

Marisel Perez, director of student affairs, expressed the mood of many students and faculty: "The anger was very internal, and now the anger has passed."

"I think we have to step back and look at things," Thomas said. "I was raised to understand that when you do something wrong in this country you are punished. How do we explain this verdict to Black children?"