As many of you may know, on Sept. 13, 2014, 18-year-old University of Virginia sophomore, Hannah Graham, went missing in Charlottesville, Virginia.
After a late night, Graham was last seen a little after 1 a.m. at a downtown mall in Charlottesville with a man by the name of Jesse Matthew. Just this week, Matthew was found in Texas, and was charged with abduction and attempt to defile. In Texas court, he is being charged with fugitive of justice and giving false information to an officer. Matthew was denied bond while heard in a Texas court, and ever since Graham went missing, college communities, especially in Virginia, have been affected by this tragic story.
Junior Vanessa Parada, who knew Graham, said, “I think that it has also empowered not only Longwood, but a lot of other schools in the area to kind of come together as a community and not just support her family and my hometown, but also to kind of take action, and know that this stuff could happen at any university. I hope that Longwood students realize that, and they’re gonna be taking precautions and make sure that they are safe and in groups.”
Not only has the story of Graham’s abduction gone national, but Longwood students have taken it into their own hands to help aid in finding her. On social media, students can join the Lancers for Hannah page, in which the admin posts pictures and updates about Graham to the 219 people who have liked it. Also, students have been looking to social media in order to lend support to her family, friends, University of Virginia students and to stay posted on Graham’s story.
Parada said, “It was really hard for me at first, especially since I knew her and went to high school with her. So it just frightened me that like it could happen to anyone, especially someone that you know and that you were somewhat close to.”
Twitter has also been a hot spot for students to post about Graham’s disappearance. By using various hashtags like #LancersForHannah and #BringHannahHome, students have been expressing their attitudes, opinions and grief about the investigation by sharing tweets, wanted photographs of Matthew and pictures and descriptions of Graham.
With an outpour of support from the Longwood University community, the knowledge and the effect of Graham’s disappearance has changed the way Longwood students are going about their own lives. After multiple incidents in our crime reports lately that have reported sexual assaults and robberies, the wanting to #BringHannahHome has meant something deeper than most students ever thought it would.
Junior Jenna Crummett said, “It has affected me on a personal level because it just shows you that anything can happen, anywhere you’re at. Like UVA (University of Virginia) is a big campus, but it could happen here at a small campus. With UVA being so close, I think it has really shaken a lot of Longwood students up. Like, could this happen here? Will this happen here? It’s just really concerning.”
Not only have students started to think about their own safety, but they are now thinking about being aware of other student’s safety as well. When we look at the size of Longwood University, it is scary to think that we could potentially lose another student, faculty or staff member; another Lancer.
Crummett said, “With the Longwood community, I think they’ve all really banned together and they finally understand. You need to walk in groups, you need to take safety precautions and don’t do things that could risksomething happening to you.”
With just 4,355 undergraduate students, as a reporter, writer and fellow Longwood University community member and student, I challenge our community to look after one another and care for one another; especially in the wake of the unfortunate news about Graham.
Continue to follow the Hannah Graham story and support the University of Virginia via anyway you can. #LancersForHannah
