On Friday, the school began its long road to recovery. A hired clean-up crew began work inside the building early in the day. By 9 a.m., staff began to prepare for a memorial in front of the school dedicated to the seven who died during Monday's shooting rampage. Their pictures were displayed for the first time.
On this Christian holy day, a school administrator read from the book of Ecclesiastes. "A time to be born, a time to die," she said. "Albinoni's Adagio" was among the songs played at the memorial, led by one of the school's violin teachers. They have promised to play for 30 minutes beginning at noon, Monday to Saturday, until April 30, the same day suspect One Goh will be back in court. The public is invited to participate.
One of the English teachers spoke on behalf of the university. "We are extending pastoral guidance to our students and families in hope that this collective process will help all of us through our grieving," Lucas Garcia said. On Thursday night, students were allowed back inside the building to collect their belongings. It was a hard moment for many of the men and women who are going through this tragedy.
A spokesperson said it is a challenging moment for a young and growing institution. Sue-Mi Shin who led Friday's performance says the shootings continue to touch all of them. "Students deserve an environment free from violence and hopefully, there will be no more tragedy like this," she said.
The school will remain closed next week for school week. Officials say they are not sure when they will reopen.
Service held to honor Grace Kim
There were a lot of tears shed for Grace Kim Friday night at the New Life Church where friends say Grace worshipped most of her life. Her death brought out a huge crowd of people whose lives she apparently touched in some way.
The Fremont church was filled with a group as diverse as the entire Bay Area. Close to 1,000 people came for the service. Paul, Grace's brother, delivered a short and emotional eulogy.
"She was the best sister, a best friend. She was who I needed her to be whenever I needed her," said Paul.
Earlier he told us that though Grace was studying nursing at Oikos, her ambitions were far greater.
"What she told me was that she wanted to be rich enough to start her own airline and then buy my mom a house and take her and travel all around the world. She didn't get to do that..." said Paul.
His only sibling will be buried Saturday morning in Hayward.
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