By RACHEL KIPP, The News Journal
Posted Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Delaware State University students attending a memorial service for three homicide victims Tuesday raise their arms during their alma mater. (Buy photo) The News Journal/BOB HERBERT
James Harvey, father of slaying victim Dashon Harvey, speaks about his son. He expressed gratitude for the support he and his family have received from Delaware State.(Buy photo) The News Journal/BOB HERBERT
Terrance Aeriel
Dashon Harvey
Iofemi Hightower
Nikki Chapple, president of the Student Government Association, urges students to "change today to make a better tomorrow."(Buy photo) The News Journal/BOB HERBERT

DOVER -- It seemed like a faux pas -- a cell phone call in the middle of a memorial service.

Then Germaine Scott-Cheatham came to the podium in Delaware State University's Education & Humanities theater and said something that made the entire auditorium cheer.

"I have Natasha," Scott-Cheatham said, holding the phone close to the microphone on stage.

DSU student Natasha Aeriel survived the execution-style shootings in a Newark, N.J., schoolyard that killed her brother, Terrance, and friends Dashon Harvey and Iofemi Hightower. Recovering at the hospital and hopeful that she'll return to campus someday, her words were clear and upbeat as she thanked friends and family and made a request of the audience.

"Keep praying for me," Aeriel said. "Have fun."

The crowd responded with a standing ovation Aeriel couldn't see, but also cheers and shouts of 'I love you,' which she could hear.

There were tears and moments of solemnity, but the victims' family members, DSU administrators and student leaders asked the audience of more than 1,000 to take something positive from the deaths.

They stressed the importance of honoring the victims by making good choices, speaking out against violence and living life to the fullest.

"We must make a personal sacrifice to make a change," said Nikki Chapple, president of DSU's Student Government Association. "Will you make a change today to make a better tomorrow?"

Students came to the auditorium Tuesday afternoon wearing dark suits and dresses or T-shirts with words and pictures memorializing the four victims. Seated facing the crowd was DSU's Approaching Storm Marching Band, of which Natasha Aeriel is a member.

The band played as the crowd filed in, its music swelling as the families of the Aeriels, Hightower and Harvey walked in and sat down in the front rows.

"When I watched all the young people come into this auditorium to remember their friends, I can see one doesn't have to be grown to be remarkable," said Claibourne Smith, president of DSU's Board of Trustees. "There are no medals or honor certificates to represent the love here tonight but that is without a doubt Dashon, Terrance and Iofemi's greatest achievement."

Terrance Aeriel, an 18-year-old freshman; Harvey, a 20-year-old junior; and Hightower, 20, who planned to start classes at DSU in the fall, and their families "had done all the right things" to ensure successful futures, DSU President Allen Sessoms told the crowd.

Sessoms said the three students felt safe in making the Dover campus their home, and he hoped they would not be the last.

"I say to all the best and brightest young people in Newark, N.J., and elsewhere in the badlands of America, this is a place where you can safely pursue your dreams," he told the crowd, which filled the theater to capacity.

Memories of each of the three students were read aloud -- Dashon was nice to everyone, Terrance Aeriel loved music and God, and Hightower was a pure spirit. One by one, members of the victims' families ascended to the stage to receive a plaque honoring their son or daughter.

The last time James Harvey, Dashon's father, was in the theater was for his son's freshman orientation. James Harvey said he wished the memorial plaque was a diploma and that he was back on campus for Dashon's graduation. But he encouraged the crowd not to let "these three shining stars burn out."

"These three innocent children did nothing wrong; the only thing they did wrong was pick a bad place to hang out," James Harvey said, holding up a copy of the service program that featured the faces of the three students.

Wade Aeriel, Terrance's father, simply asked parents to "keep your child safe." Susie Tucker, Hightower's aunt, thanked everyone for their love and support.

"God bless you all," she said.

Everyone stood as the service ended, and students raised their fists while the band played the DSU alma mater. The families departed the auditorium first, bone-deep drumbeats from the band bouncing off the walls. The drummers standing in the front aisle swayed back and forth, and cymbalists lifted their instruments to the sky.

The death of a friend or relative has a way of interrupting the rhythm of daily life, the Rev. Bishop Bruce Parham, pastor of Oasis of Refreshing Ministries Church in Wilmington, told the audience.

"You just can't plan for it," he continued. "And yet you've got to plan to live a long time and be ready to die at any time."

Tuesday's service remembered three students who embraced life, Parham said. Three times he asked the audience to tap their neighbor and give a message: "enjoy life," "don't waste time," and "live out loud."

"I challenge you that are still here, you that are still living: what are you going to do with your life?" he said. "Are you going to do what you can, all that you can, to live out loud?"