On Students: Hopkins Community Remembers Rex Chao


     More than 300 students and several university officials
gathered at the Homewood campus's Glass Pavilion Wednesday
evening at a memorial service for political science sophomore Rex
T. Chao, who was killed in a campus shooting earlier this month.

     Interim Provost Steven Knapp read from the Psalms, and
several friends remembered Chao, 19, as a talented violinist and
an ambitious student who went out of his way to befriend others.

     "The death of Rex Chao signaled a sudden ending and rendered
each of us stunned and sorrowful; we came to a complete
standstill," university chaplain Sharon Kugler said. "We, as a
family, as a community, felt profound despair. We froze in our
tracks. What could such senseless violence mean? How could it
happen here?"

     Senior Robert Harwood, 22, has been charged with Chao's
death; Baltimore City Police said the two men were former friends
who argued after a meeting of the College Republicans on April
10. Harwood is in jail on charges of first degree murder and
unlawful possession of a handgun; he was denied bail.

     Kugler urged those struggling with the tragedy to seek
comfort in their faith and in one another.

     "It is essential that we continue to long for the
experiences of joy and comfort, to listen for the healing voice
of God in the silence of our souls," she said. "We need to
understand that we can get there only by walking through the pain
together."  

     Participants at the memorial service held lighted candles as
members of the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra performed Bach's
Concerto for Two Violins as a recessional. A brief reception was
held in the Great Hall after the service.