In a university of tens of thousands, not everyone knows one another personally; however, the recent death of Cristian Zamora brought some students and faculty together to pay respect as a community. La Casa Cultural Latina held a vigil Monday night open to anyone who wanted to attend and sign cards to be sent to Zamora’s family later this week.

Berenice Sánchez, assistant director of La Casa Cultural Latina, said the center wanted to provide a space for students to grieve.

The recent graduate’s body was found Friday in Crystal Lake Park after having been missing since Dec. 31.

Although she is not a student at the University, Megan Lystad attended the vigil because she believes it is important for the community to come together both to grieve and celebrate life.

“It’s tragic that he was so young, but I think it’s a good thing to try and remember what he contributed, just to acknowledge that he was an important person to this community, even if I didn’t know him personally,” Lystad said.

Sanchez said the center kept updated with the Mundo family during his disappearance earlier this year and was consequently able to keep in contact with Zamora’s family through Mundo’s family members.

“We always want to be there for the entire student community not just because he was Latino and it was the responsibility of La Casa, but because he was a U of I student. He was a part of our community,” Sanchez said.

Gioconda Guerra Pérez, director of La Casa Cultural Latina, said she believes banding together in times of tragedy demonstrates peoples’ ability to come together and support one another.

“We hope there isn’t another tragedy, but at least the students and their families know that if something happens, they have a place here where they could get the support that they need,” Guerra Pérez said. “That, for me, is community: that people back home in Chicago or New York or Argentina or wherever their home is, they know that somebody here cares about them.”

A memorial for Zamora will take place on Thursday at Alvarez Funeral Home in Chicago, according to a Facebook page run by family and friends.

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