Being so immersed within the great city of Boston, and so close to the finish line of last year’s Marathon, Northeastern students have been deeply impacted by its aftermath. Because of our close involvement, the Council for University Programs (CUP) decided to bring in Jeff Bauman, one of those severely injured from the first bomb, to talk to students about his life and how it has been impacted since April 16th. Below, CUP’s Lectures chair, Casey Price, talks about the universoty event and how Bauman touched those in the audience.
What inspired you to bring in Bauman?
The events that occurred during the marathon in 2013 affected many students at Northeastern because it happened so close to campus, everyone knew someone who was at the marathon, some were even there to help first responders. Jeff had such an inspirational story and I thought it would really hit home for a lot of students.
What did his discussion focus on? What was the main theme?
He talked about what his life was like before the marathon and then talked about April 16th. I was surprised by how well he was able to describe that day with great detail while remaining calm. He said that he didn’t want what had happened to him to change him. He’s still the same person, it just takes him a little longer to do things now. He also kept saying he wanted to get stronger so he can take care of his new daughter and fiance. The day he spoke at Northeastern was his first day walking without a crutch.
What would classify the overall feel of the discussion as?
Jeff is a very easy going laid back guy and that came through during his speech. He was very real in his discussion. I heard a couple girls after the speech was over talking to him. He had come down off the stage to keep talking to students who wanted to continue the discussion. The girls told him the way he spoke made them feel connected.
Any more interesting tidbits from the talk?
His fiance and daughter were at the event and he kept looking at them and saying how much he wanted to get better for them. You could tell he loved them very much and it was sweet to see. Someone in the audience brought a gift for his daughter which was nice.