Georgia Southwestern Sigma Chis Help Host Prayer Vigil

Jon Eidenire, GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN 2016, sang two songs and the mother of slain campus police officer Jody Smith spoke to a crowd estimated to be in the hundreds at a Dec. 9 prayer vigil in front of the university's Wheatley Administration Building in Americus, Ga. Smith and city police officer Nick Smarr were shot and killed as the result of their wounds as they responded to a Dec. 7 call regarding a domestic dispute near campus, according to news reports.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Eidenire and his chapter brothers decided to cancel the holiday party they had planned for Dec. 9 and instead hold the prayer vigil. At the event, Smith's mother, Sharron Johnson, fought back tears in a livestream of the event as she spoke of Smith and Smarr. Also at the prayer vigil, the Rev. Keith Parks of the local First Baptist Church led an invocation, the university's interim president Dr. Charles Patterson addressed the crowd and representatives of Sigma Chi and Kappa Sigma each presented $1,000 to assist the families of the slain officers.
The vigil was originally intended to be held at the Fraternity house, but was moved to campus with the help of university officials to accommodate more attendees.
Order of Constantine Sig Len Hicks, GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN 1975, offered support last week to chapter brother and Consul Johnathin Moore, 2016, as he planned the event. “We've blown The Jordan Standard out of [the water] with all of the [guys] over there,” he said of the undergraduates, speaking of the set of expectations that recruits must meet before joining Sigma Chi.
Read coverage of the event from The Telegraph of Macon, Ga.