The Fallen ‘58’

Of the 58 fallen Trojans, I do not personally know one. What I do know, however, is what it means to lose someone, especially someone part of your community, and here at VSU, we’re a family in our own right.
           We eat, breathe, sleep, live, and learn together at one of the greatest HBCUs. Our motto at VSU is “Greater Happens Here.” Those 58 fallen Trojans came here to VSU to become greater and do phenomenal things for themselves, their community, their culture, and HBCUs in general.

         Like me and so many others before us, they decided that whatever they dreamed of was worth the extra time to make sure that when they made it a reality, the person succeeding in that dream was the best version of themselves, they could offer to the people.
           
           But if history has taught us anything is that sometimes the dream isn’t always on us; sometimes, it takes a community to uplift a community. Though physically, their fight is over; their dream still lives in each and every one of us as we have the memories, experiences, and love they gave us when they were here to know what world they wanted to create before they left.

               As such, we have the blueprint and the essence of their will inside us, reminding and propelling us to achieve our utopia and incorporate theirs into ours. Dr. King said it best, “ One day there will be no more of us versus them. One day we will be as one”.
            Henceforth, the legacy we leave behind as part of VSU will carry with it the fallen 58 and all of their glory to the finish line, so one day, when we meet them again, we will have passed the baton back to them with even greater reverence, pride, success, and a lasting impression that rivals what we ever thought possible.

                 I do not know the fallen 58, but I do know what it means to have lost. I know what it means to have experienced that loss to the point of no return. “Gone but not forgotten,” they say at funerals.

                 Here at VSU, we say, “ Hail State!” So, I say unto the fallen,

We hail your determination to make the world better than when you left it.

We hail the lives you’ve all lived in all its glory, good or bad.

As many others do, we hail the love you gave, experienced, and dreamed of having.

We hail the dreams you dreamt of and the magnificent world we will one day live in because of them.

We hail the legacies you left behind as future doctors, lawyers, singers, educators, parents, daughters and sons, friends, family, motivators, inspirations, and champions.

We hail the fight you gave to the end despite the hardships, heartache, barriers, losses, and triumphs you’ve faced against.

We hail the impact you have on our lives as we continue on our journey to making the world we live in better than the one we’ve experienced so that when we join you, it will be beyond what either of us ever imagined it could be.

In short, my fallen Trojans, we hail your very existence and the greatness you left behind for others to utilize.

Thank you!