Campus ready to move on after recent shootings
By RACHEL KIPP, The News Journal
Posted Friday, October 19, 2007
Ms. Delaware State University Tasha Askew and Mr. DSU Foster Sellers pose after their coronation at the university on Monday night. (Buy photo) The News Journal/BOB HERBERT
Dessire Upshur of the Sussex Central High School step team performs at a step show Thursday in the Memorial Hall gymnasium at Delaware State University in Dover.(Buy photo) The News Journal/BOB HERBERT

DOVER -- Two red thrones sat empty at center stage, flanked by potted palms and framed by a backdrop depicting a fantastical turreted castle.

The homecoming king, Mr. Delaware State University Foster Sellers, appeared at the back of the auditorium wearing a white suit. Seconds after he walked through the cheering crowd to the stage, Ms. DSU, fellow senior Tasha Askew, arrived by chariot, dressed in a sari.

It was a scene straight out of a Bollywood movie -- except for a man in a dark suit sitting with the homecoming court, quietly wiping tears from his eyes. Older than the rest of them, James Harvey was standing in for this year's Mr. Junior, his son Dashon, who was killed in August in an execution-style shooting in New Jersey.

"Mr. Harvey, your strength is awesome," Ms. DSU 2006, Dana Robinson, said when it was her turn to address the court. "When I have a son, I want him to be like you."

The DSU community has experienced more than its share of tragedy over the past few months. Three students, including Harvey, were killed and three more were seriously injured in two separate shootings, one of them on campus. All likely would have played roles in homecoming this week, as members of the marching band, cheerleading squad, homecoming court or simply as fans cheering on the football team.

No one is ready -- or willing -- to forget those who were hurt or killed. But they're ready to move on.

"You're never going to forget that, and they're always in your thoughts and in your mind. But we felt the way we remembered and recognized them was appropriate, and we didn't want it to be lost in the activities of homecoming," said Debbie Wilson, DSU's director of events and ceremonies. "I think if you talk to any student on campus, any parent, alumni, everybody recognizes the fact that unfortunately what we've dealt with is a reflection of what society is dealing with, it can happen anywhere."

Months in the making

Homecoming week at DSU is a whirlwind of concerts, dinners, parties and reunions that have been in the works since last winter.

That was long before Aug. 4, when Dashon Harvey, fellow DSU student Terrance Aeriel and incoming freshman Iofemi Hightower were fatally shot and Natasha Aeriel, 19, a third-year DSU student, was injured in a shooting near their homes in Newark, N.J.

It also was long before Sept. 21, when freshmen Shalita Middleton and Nathaniel Pugh were injured during a shooting on campus. Another first-year student, Loyer Braden, was charged in the crime.

The Aeriels were in DSU's marching band. Middleton was a cheerleader.

The campus community held a service in honor of the three students killed in Newark at the beginning of the semester.

Their deaths, and the shooting on campus, were not the focus of planning for homecoming week, Wilson said.

"We felt that the remembrance [service] was appropriate, and that it was not overwhelmed or overshadowed by other activities when it was done," she said. "When we did those, the focus was on the students and the families. For homecoming, it's not a key part of what we're doing. We didn't want that to be overshadowed and lost in the homecoming festivities."

Thousands of alumni and other visitors are expected on campus this weekend to participate in homecoming events. Police presence on campus always increases during homecoming week. Those officers will join extra personnel who were added after the September shooting, spokesman Carlos Holmes said.

A year of activity

Although Mr. and Ms. DSU are in the spotlight during homecoming, the titles represent a commitment that runs the entire school year. Askew's platform is about creating social change on campus, and she's planning several upcoming events, including an expo for entrepreneurs. Each Ms. DSU comes up with a theme for coronation that remains a secret until the big night.

Some aspects of planning for this year were different, Askew said. The students didn't want to replace Dashon Harvey as Mr. Junior in the homecoming court, and some outsiders didn't understand why Ms. Junior appeared solo at football games while all the other members of the court walked in pairs.

"I personally spoke with [Dashon's] father a couple of times, and I see he's in good spirits about this and he actually wanted to participate in coronation," Askew, 21, said. "He actually wants me to feel better about it. I don't feel I should be sad or put a damper on the moment because he's happy. ... If [Dashon's] own father can stand and be happy about it and glad that [Dashon] is in a better place, that makes me feel better."

Cheerleading coach Sharon Whitaker, who was on DSU's squad in the 1970s, said she's excited about all the experiences the squad is having this week, including leading the football team in a "March to Victory" to Alumni Stadium before the game.

They perform at each game in honor of Middleton.

"We always keep her in our hearts," Whitaker said. "They would want us to continue on and we always lift them up. Shalita is always with us in spirit and she's still here. But we're always mindful of her and we know that we need to continue on and be in good faith and in spirit."

Fashion show goes on

Dressed to the nines, students came from every corner of campus Tuesday evening for the homecoming fashion show. They stood in line in front of the Education and Humanities Center, while student workers and campus police checked for student IDs and tickets, conversations muted by the pounding bass of music a DJ was playing inside.

The audience took their seats and the stage curtain was pulled aside to reveal a half-dozen DSU students who, along with professional models, would spend the next few hours showing off clothing from designers including Gucci and Roberto Cavalli.

Cheers, catcalls, music and applause filled the theater. But for one moment, there was also silence.

"We've all heard about the tragedies that happened here. You have our condolences and the condolences of the world," said fashion show producer Roy Campbell, who has three children who attended DSU. "When bad things happen, it makes you cherish life more."

Before the show, juniors Stephanie Peels and Brittany Pace, both 20, listed the events they're anticipating this week: the concert on Friday, the party on Saturday and cheering on the football team.

"There is no doubt in my mind that they are going to win that game," Pace said.

Both were friends of Dashon Harvey and think "he wouldn't want us to be sad," Peels said.

"He would want us to remember him through the good things we're doing," she said.