Following the death of Maxwell Gruver in a possible hazing incident, LSU Student Government has announced they are going to host a “Rally Against Hazing” in a tweet sent out late Tuesday afternoon. The rally will take place on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. on the steps of the Memorial Tower.
“The idea of the whole thing is to have a time for students to come and mourn, process, have a support system and have access to resources that they might need,” said SG vice president Leah Sanders.
The event will take the form of a public forum led by student leaders from around campus, Sanders said. No administrators will be speaking during the event.
While, to some extent, the hope is that there will be some exchange of ideas on where to go after this tragedy, but SG’s message is that the student body is unified, Sanders said.
“From [SG, the message] will be that we’re still all Tigers,” Sanders said. “This isn’t Greek versus non-Greek, we’re here to support each other and it’s OK if you’re struggling with this.”
During the event, mental health resources and prayer leaders will be available for students who have questions. LSU Cares, the University’s initiative from Student Advocacy and Accountability to make students feel like a community that is cared for, will also be present.
Students will also get the opportunity to pledge against hazing by leaving their painted handprint and name on banners located on Tower Drive. After the rally, the banners will hang in front of the LSU Student Union as a symbol of solidarity, Sanders said.
“We want to have a time for students to feel like they have a voice,” Sanders said.
While it is still being decided upon whether there will be time for students to publicly voice their opinion during the rally, Sanders said there will be plenty of people available to talk to whom students can voice their opinions to.
“We encourage everyone to attend,” said SG president Jason Badeaux. “The main goal is to send a message of unity and, although this happened on our campus, this doesn’t represent LSU and it doesn’t represent what we stand for.”