Hofstra students hold vigil for teen suicides around U.S.

Hofstra University students held a candlelight vigil Tuesday night in response to several teenage suicides that drew national attention, including last week's death of a Rutgers University student who was allegedly harassed by his roommate.

At least 300 students gathered in front of Hofstra Hall on the university's Hempstead campus. Event organizers passed out white candles, and students read the stories of nine teenagers who recently committed suicide after allegedly being harassed due to their sexual orientation.

Each story ended with the words, "You are not alone." After each story, the vigil stayed silent for a while.

"It's our responsibility to let them know they are not alone," said Christian Fuscarino, 20, a Hofstra junior and operations director for the Pride Network, a student group that organized the rally. "I'm here to do whatever will make this right."

Peter Singh, 19, led the group in a prayer for tolerance. "Let us learn lessons from their lives that have been lost," said Singh, a Hofstra junior.

Rutgers student Tyler Clementi, 18, jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22. Three days earlier, Clementi's roommate, Dharun Ravi, had allegedly used a camera on his computer to surreptitiously broadcast an intimate encounter between Clementi and another man on the Internet.

Ravi and another classmate, Molly Wei, both 18, face invasion of privacy charges.

In Northern California, Seth Walsh, 13, a middle-school student, died Sept. 28 after trying to hang himself Sept. 19. Walsh's friends told local news outlets in California that he had been bullied for years because he was gay.

And in Texas, a 13-year-old shot himself last month after he was allegedly harassed at his middle school. The parents of Asher Brown told the Houston Chronicle that other children bullied him and accused him of being gay.

The three incidents and others were on the minds of the students who organized the vigil at the request of Hofstra administrators, they said.

"It's about honoring those who passed away, and it's about letting other people know, 'We're here for you,' " said William Moriarty, 21, a Hofstra junior and co-chair of the Pride Network.