Support gathering for campus community organized

A support gathering for students, faculty and staff will be held from noon until 2 p.m. today in the banquet rooms of the Oakland Center. Friends of Jenna Balabuch and Rachel Ring will come together to share their feelings and remembrances in the wake of the tragic deaths of Jenna and Rachel over the weekend. Fellow student Shannon Waite was critically injured in the same accident.

Welcoming remarks will be made by Susan Hawkins, chair of the Department of English, followed by a moment of silence. Faculty members and fellow Sigma Tau Delta members will make remarks. The floor will then be opened to anyone wishing to share remarks. Graham Counseling Center staff will be present to provide support.

Any members of the media who attend are requested to remain outside the banquet rooms. Opportunities to speak with students and faculty in the corridor just outside the banquet rooms may be available at the discretion of individual faculty and students.

Funeral arrangements for Rachel Ring are as follows:

• Visitation: From 3-9 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 26,  and from 3-9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27, at the Potere-Modetz Funeral Home located at 339 Walnut Boulevard in Rochester.

• Funeral Service: 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 28, at Faith Church, located at 160 W. Hamlin in Rochester

Funeral arrangements for Jenna Balabuch:

• Visitation: From 5-9 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25, and from 2-9 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 26, at the Roth Muir Funeral Home, located at 296 S. Main in Romeo.
• Funeral Service: 11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27, at the Romeo United Methodist Church, located at 280 N. Main in Romeo.

Memorial Donations may be made to either an animal rescue shelter or to an English scholarship at Oakland University in Jenna’s honor.