Students Attend Prayer Service For Tadesse, Ho

Nearly four months after news of the Dunster House murder-suicide horrified Harvard, but reached many students only through television or radio, about 70 people gathered Saturday morning in Memorial Church's Appleton Chapel to grieve for the dead roommates.

Students, faculty, administrators and friends of the women attended the "service of prayer and remembrance," honoring the memories of Trang P. Ho '96 and Sinedu Tadesse '96.

On May 28, just after the last of spring finals when many undergraduates were already heading home for the summer, Tadesse stabbed Ho to death and then hung herself in the bathroom of their Dunster House two-person suite.

Tadesse's motives are still unknown.

The Reverend Peter J. Gomes waited five minutes for the 11 a.m. bells of Memorial Church to quiet before opening a speech laden with biblical references.

"Hope is the province of the future to which young lives in an old College are dedicated," Gomes said.

"That future hope was tragically cut short by the crazed hands of violence in the spring. And yet, that violence should not exercise its dominion over us. And it should not hold us hostage to the past.

"We must reclaim that future, unclear, uncertain as it surely and always is," he continued. "And we must and we can move on."

The College held a similar service in early June, but many students were not in Cambridge to attend. Saturday's service, according to administrators, was designed to give the College community a chance to reflect upon the incident and achieve a sense of closure as the new school year begins.

Before the 45-minute service began, four Dunster House students stood as greeters on the steps inside the chapel. About two-thirds of those attending were students.

"This service is not a memorial service in the accepted meaning of that term, although we cannot help but reflect upon the two young lives lost to us and the sense of sadness, anger, evil and loss in which those deaths are caught up," Gomes said.

Although we "mourn the loss," "weep with the bereaved," and wonder what caused the tragedy, the focus now must be the future, he said.

"Our concern today, however, and here, is for the quality of life that remains in this community of ours so deeply wounded and hurt," Gomes continued.

One Dunster House student who asked that he not be identified said the service helped make the tragedy tangible to him.

"I sort of feel like it's definitely real, the student said, adding that many students did not have a chance over the summer to officially acknowledge the deaths of their friends.

After the minister's speech, the service continued with readings from the Bible--including the Sermon on the Mount--hymns, a moment of silence and a benediction.

"I don't recall ever being to a service from which no one in the congregation wished to leave," Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 wrote in an e-mail Saturday afternoon. "Everyone remained standing through the entire Bach postlude, though the minister and choir had attempted to lead them out."

Assistant Dean of Students Sarah E. Flatley said she hoped the service gave the Harvard community "something to help bind the wounds."

Nothando Ndebele '97, who knew Tadesse through the Harvard African Students Association, said the service gave her a sense that the event was finally over.

"I think it was a good way to pay our last respects to both of the girls," said Ndebele, a Winthrop resident. "I don't know what more we can do. If [the service] hadn't happened, it would have felt like things sort of had been left open."

Lewis, Platley, President Neil L. Rudenstine, Dean of Freshmen Elizabeth S. Nathans, Associate Dean of the College Thomas A. Dingman '67, Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson and Dean of Radcliffe College Philippa A. Bovet were among the administrators who attended.

No members of Ho's or Tadesse's families came.

Dunster House will hold two meetings for residents on Wednesday, Sept. 27, and Monday, Oct. 2 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. to continue discussing the tragedy

The College held a similar service in early June, but many students were not in Cambridge to attend. Saturday's service, according to administrators, was designed to give the College community a chance to reflect upon the incident and achieve a sense of closure as the new school year begins.

Before the 45-minute service began, four Dunster House students stood as greeters on the steps inside the chapel. About two-thirds of those attending were students.

"This service is not a memorial service in the accepted meaning of that term, although we cannot help but reflect upon the two young lives lost to us and the sense of sadness, anger, evil and loss in which those deaths are caught up," Gomes said.

Although we "mourn the loss," "weep with the bereaved," and wonder what caused the tragedy, the focus now must be the future, he said.

"Our concern today, however, and here, is for the quality of life that remains in this community of ours so deeply wounded and hurt," Gomes continued.

One Dunster House student who asked that he not be identified said the service helped make the tragedy tangible to him.

"I sort of feel like it's definitely real, the student said, adding that many students did not have a chance over the summer to officially acknowledge the deaths of their friends.

After the minister's speech, the service continued with readings from the Bible--including the Sermon on the Mount--hymns, a moment of silence and a benediction.

"I don't recall ever being to a service from which no one in the congregation wished to leave," Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 wrote in an e-mail Saturday afternoon. "Everyone remained standing through the entire Bach postlude, though the minister and choir had attempted to lead them out."

Assistant Dean of Students Sarah E. Flatley said she hoped the service gave the Harvard community "something to help bind the wounds."

Nothando Ndebele '97, who knew Tadesse through the Harvard African Students Association, said the service gave her a sense that the event was finally over.

"I think it was a good way to pay our last respects to both of the girls," said Ndebele, a Winthrop resident. "I don't know what more we can do. If [the service] hadn't happened, it would have felt like things sort of had been left open."

Lewis, Platley, President Neil L. Rudenstine, Dean of Freshmen Elizabeth S. Nathans, Associate Dean of the College Thomas A. Dingman '67, Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson and Dean of Radcliffe College Philippa A. Bovet were among the administrators who attended.

No members of Ho's or Tadesse's families came.

Dunster House will hold two meetings for residents on Wednesday, Sept. 27, and Monday, Oct. 2 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. to continue discussing the tragedy