Lasell College is located next to the Boston Marathon route on Commonwealth ave. Professors. students, and school faculty run in the marathon every year and traditionally, Lasell hosts a campus wide party complete with DJs and food during the day. Students flock to Comm ave to watch and cheer on runners throughout the day, overall making it a great day. Last year, this all changed.
When news of the bomb broke, the campus went quiet. Music, shouting, laughter no longer echoed through campus. Instead, it was a ghost town. Parents were frantically calling students to make sure they were okay, students were glued to TVs, phones, and computers anxiously waiting to hear from family and friends and to learn more from the news.
This year on April 15, Lasell will be commemorating the tragedy, bravery, perseverance, and strength Boston has felt throughout the past year since that fateful day. The commemoration will start with a Remembrance Service at the Peace Pole at 2:30 pm. President Michael Alexander and Student Government Association (SGA) president and Lasell senior Kevin Moloney will be the featured speakers. At 2:49 to conclude the service there will be a moment of silence.
From 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm there will be a “Stress Free Zone” hosted in Case house. A part of this Stress Free Zone, there will be pet therapy provided by Dog Bones. This will be hosted by Peer Health Educators and the Counseling Center.
And to conclude the day from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm SGA, Resident Life, and the Office of Student Activities will be hosting a Marathon Monday Poster Party in the Arnow Campus Center Classroom. Students are invited to come make posters and sign a banner that will be hung along the marathon route.
Many students at Lasell come from various towns across Massachusetts and all Massachusetts residents have been touched by this. With these efforts, Lasell Strong is just as meaningful as Boston Strong.