A hurting Eagle Nation turned out in force Thursday evening to remember, honor and cry together over the five "sisters" lost in Wednesday's tragic accident on Interstate 16.

About 2,500 people gathered on Georgia Southern's Sweetheart Circle to mourn the friends and colleagues gone forever, but also to celebrate their lives and support one another.

"Today, we are all Eagles," university President Dr. Brooks Keel said, his voice cracking with emotion. "Hold on to that love. Hold on to that support, Eagle Nation. Hold on to each other."

Dressed in black for mourning, blue for Georgia Southern and white for sorority sisters, the crowd gathered around a stage erected for the night's speakers and the chairs arranged for the fallen Eagles' families, close friends, sorority sisters, fellow nursing students and members of the campus groups of which they had been a part.

Students, faculty and community members began gathering around 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. vigil. The crowd remained virtually silent as people listened, heads bowed, to somber violin and cello music provided by Drs. Larisa and Steven Elisha from the School of Music.

Some wrote notes to their late classmates and tacked them on boards for all to read and remember.

Dr. Todd Deal, executive director of student leadership and civic engagement, opened the gathering with a prayer and thanked the crowd for their presence before yielding the stage to Keel.

In a firm but occasionally breaking voice, Keel declared Georgia Southern the greatest university in America - not for its academics or sports prowess, he said, but "because of its people. ... Eagle Nation is a family."

He spoke briefly about the outpouring of love and support he had witnessed on campus over the past few days as students responded to the tragic loss of five of their peers.

Students remembered as friends

About an hour before the ceremony on Sweetheart Circle began, a smaller vigil took place outside the Lewis Building as the Southern Ambassadors, the students who give university tours to prospective future Eagles, gathered to pay their respects to one of their own: Catherine "McKay" Pittman, who had worked as an ambassador there for about a year and a half.

With candles, prayers and shared memories, members of both the Southern Ambassadors and the Campus Crusaders for Christ expressed how much they would miss their friend and colleague.

"For about a year, McKay was one of the hardest-working ambassadors here," said junior communications member Drew Whaley, who knew Pittman through both groups.

As a fellow ambassador who had conducted several tours with Pittman, he remembered her as an exuberant person who loved hard and eagerly shared that love with other people, particularly when it came to her passion for her school.

That love is particularly why the ambassadors chose the "welcome circle" outside Lewis Hall as their gathering place. It is where every campus tour starts, where many prospective students would have encountered Georgia Southern - and Pittman - for the first time.

"This is where a lot of people decided they wanted to come to Georgia Southern - because of McKay," Whaley said. "So it was a very appropriate place to pay our respects."

Remembrances like these characterized the night as the vigil at Sweetheart Circle got underway.

Before the candles were lit, five nursing students were invited to the stage to speak about their friends, sorority sisters and classmates.

Their stories were touched with love and humor: Holley Allen recalled Caitlyn Baggett as a friend who "drove (her) crazy" with her unflagging support, nonstop storytelling and dedication to her classes.

Emily McGuire remembered Morgan Bass as a dedicated nurse and sorority sister who was also a dependable, steadfast friend.

Ansley Ewing described Emily Clark as "the best friend I've ever had," whose "smile was electric and her heart huge."

About Abbie Deloach, Alison Jackson said, "You were brought here to bring a smile to those who were having a bad day and advice to those who feel lost."

And Melissa Monticalvo, who spoke about McKay Pittman, called her friend "a beautiful soul."

Each girl expressed their sorrow and devastation over the loss of their friends, but they all ended with a hope of eventual reunion and an overwhelming gratitude for having known the girls at all.

"It still hasn't hit me that my person has gone," Ewing said on the stand. "I'm forever thankful for you, Em."

Allen, who was the first of the nursing students to speak, summed it up with her opening prayer: "Lord, I don't understand what you've done, and I don't understand why ... but thank you for letting us know these beautiful women."

Students remembered as nurses

After the five speakers returned to their seats, Dean of Students Patrice Jackson led the candle ceremony. As the little lights flickered like fireflies in the spring twilight, Dr. Sharon Radzyminski, the chair of the School of Nursing, took the stage to speak of the girls in their capacity as nurses.

"They were everything a nurse at Georgia Southern could represent," Radzyminski said, "and we should be extremely proud to have known them."

The nursing students then rose to recite the Florence Nightingale Pledge, the creed of the School of Nursing, named after the wartime nurse who is often symbolically represented by a lamp not unlike the hundreds of flickering candles all around.

Jackson ended the proceedings by saying, "As these students have shared their light with all of you. Now we go to share our light with others."

While there were still quiet pockets of mourning - friends and couples embracing in tearful silence - there were fewer tears as the crowd dispersed. There was a little more talking and a little more laughing, perhaps signifying a first, small step toward healing.

Brittani Howell may be reached at (912) 489-9405.