LYNCHBURG, Va. – Lynchburg College is standing in solidarity with those affected by the violent march in Charlottesville last weekend.
College officials held a prayer service Wednesday. Students and people from the community prayed and sang hymns together.
This comes after the president of the college sent a letter to students expressing his sorrow for Charlottesville. He also reminded Lynchburg College students they are an inclusive and diverse community.
"There's something special about making a pledge in the form of a prayer, of scripture, of singing together; that says, we're one community and we want a better world,” Rev. Stephanie McLemore, chaplin and director of church relations, said.
"So we're here at the beginning of the year. Our students are coming in, a lot of our student leaders are here. And that incident happened so close to our home. We wanted to make sure that we reminded folks that our institution is not a place of hate. It's not a place of discrimination," said Aaron Smith, diversity and inclusion officer.
Lynchburg College students will start school next week.