Greek community walks for Boston

Members of the greek community gathered in raincoats outside Alpha Xi Delta on the extension and started walking.

They walked to Law Lane and back Thursday carrying a large, white sign that said “Support Boston.”

Junior member of Alpha Xi Kelsey Bergren said they wanted to respect and honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing Monday.

The bombings, which took place near the marathon’s finish line, killed three people and injured more than 100 more. At least 11 members of the IU and Bloomington communities were in Boston for the marathon. They were confirmed to be safe.

“We decided to hold a walk as a way of finishing the marathon for those who could not,” Bergren said.

Alpha Xi and Phi Delta Theta worked together to sponsor the walk because they are paired for Little 500 week.

“They wanted us to participate and reach out to the greek community in order to make it happen,” Phi Delt President Matt Wilkinson said.

However, Alpha Xi Vice President of Programming Sarah Taylor said she didn’t want to stop there, but wanted to reach out to the entire greek community.

“Walks are something that physically bring people together,” Bergren said.

Bergren said the Little 500 race is a prime example of how much greek life can influence others in the community.

She said she wanted to bring passionate people together to show support.

“We wanted to do a walk to remind everyone that there is another side of Bloomington,” Taylor said. “It shows the power of the greek community that we can pull people together to impact positively.”

Taylor said it is easy for college students to get wrapped up in their own lives, especially during the week of the Little 500.

She said people need to take time away from their festivities to remember other people and especially this week’s tragedy in Boston.

“There is a huge focus on the Little 5 atmosphere this week, but we need to recognize the greater community,” Bergren said.

Bergren said it can be disheartening to see such a staunch reminder of the unfair and irrational actions of some people, but she also wants to witness wonderful people providing support and solace to the victims of this tragedy.

“We can take an hour or however long it takes to respect those who were affected,” Wilkinson said.

Bergren said she wanted the walk to be a reminder of the good that people can do and the care that they can provide.

“Doing this walk really feeds into our values of helping out others in any way we can,” Wilkinson said. “Events can happen, but we have to come together.”

For those who could not attend the walk, Bergren said she hoped people would create a banner of support or even just hold a moment of silence at chapter meetings this week.

“I was feeling defeated and hopeless reading about the Boston Marathon,” Taylor said. “We want to support not only Boston, but the Bloomington community and show that all compassion outweighs hate.”