Moravian College Loves Boston

The Moravian College community sent a message of peace and love to the people of Boston on Thursday.

More than 100 of them—students, faculty, administrators and trustees—gathered on the Quad at the Haupert Union Building, organized themselves in the shape of a peace sign and took a photograph.

The effort was organized by Moravian women’s soccer coach Brienne Smith, a Massachusetts native who ran in Monday’s Boston Marathon and completed it just 30 seconds before the first of two bombs were set off near the finish line.

“We were very fortunate,” Smith said Friday. She and her wife, Moravian adjunct Prof. Lisa Stoddard, finished the race together with their mothers waiting at the finish line.

After the first blast, Smith said, she thought it was a manhole cover. “After the second explosion, it was clear something terrible was happening,” she said.

In the frantic first few moments, cell phone voice service was not working, but Smith and Stoddard were able to reach their mothers via test message and both were fine.

At that point, Smith said, the goal was to leave the area as quickly as possible.

“It was chaos,” she said.

When it came time to return to Bethlehem, it was difficult to leave friends and loved ones behind, Smith said. Stoddard’s mother lives in Belmont, which is one of the neighborhoods on lockdown today as authorities try to capture the second bombing suspect.

Smith said she is still trying to fathom why someone would “do something so horrible,” and on that day. “It’s so sad,” she said.

At the same time, she said, she is proud of how Boston’s residents have responded to the tragedy.

“The Boston Marathon is one of the world’s most inspiring events,” Smith wrote in an emailed invitation to the Moravian community to participate in the peace sign photo shoot. 

“I have run [seven] and I can tell you that on Marathon Monday there is not a more joyful place to be than on the route from Hopkinton to Boston.  People open up their homes and hearts to total strangers. They hand out oranges, tissues, popsicles, jellybeans, and so much more. They cheer as loud as they can for hours and their encouraging words truly keep you moving.”

“There is an immeasurable amount of love in the city of Boston on Marathon Monday. This past Monday was no different. In the face of great evil the people of Boston came together and showed these cowards that no matter what, love will always overcome!”

Smith said she has asked friends and supporters through social media to spread the photograph in the hopes that the people of Boston get the message of love from Moravian College.