OSU, OU Students React to Homecoming Tragedy

By Preston Derrick

What should have been a day of celebration turned tragic when 25-year-old Adacia Chambers drove her car into a crowd of people at the annual Sea of Orange homecoming parade at Oklahoma State University on Oct. 24.

Four people were killed and over 45 were injured.

Lacy Cox, a sophomore biochemistry and molecular biology major from May, Texas, attends OSU and said she was at home when she heard the news.

A memorial was set up at the intersection of Hall of Fame and Main in Stillwater, after the scene of the fatal crash was cleared. Zack Furman/O'Colly of Oklahoma State

A memorial was set up at the intersection of Hall of Fame and Main in Stillwater, after the scene of the fatal crash was cleared. Zack Furman/O’Colly of Oklahoma State

“We just randomly were like, ‘Let’s stay here,’” Cox said. “My family came to visit me, and we had full intentions of going. It’s crazy because where the crash was, is where I stood last year and it’s where I planned to stand this year.”

Cox said her friend and his roommate, along with his girlfriend, University of Central Oklahoma student Nikita Nakal, did attend the parade.

“He (Cox’s friend) walked down the street a bit in order to get a better view so he could take pictures so he could send them back to his family,” Cox said. “The car came around and his roommate’s girlfriend, who just came to visit for the weekend, was one of the fatalities…so thankful we didn’t go.”

It heavily affected the campus, Cox said, from classes being let out early to empty club meetings.

Caden Brown, a sophomore marketing major from Lubbock, attends the University of Oklahoma. Brown went to the OU versus Texas Tech football game in Norman, Okla., on that same day, where an OSU flag was raised when OU received word of what had happened.

“It was kind of like surreal because it just happened, so none of it really had sunken in yet,” Brown said.

Makayla Medrano, a student at Stillwater Middle School, leaves a note at the memorial. Zack Furman/O'Colly of Oklahoma State

Makayla Medrano, a student at Stillwater Middle School, leaves a note at the memorial. Zack Furman/O’Colly of Oklahoma State

Oklahoma is the in-state rival of OSU, and Brown said people are showing their fellow Okies support.

“It’s still pretty shocking,” Brown said. “Since we are rivals, it kind of feels like it happened to us as well and people are showing more support than hate for OSU right now. Because we are in the same state and it was the same day, it seems like it could have easily happened to us as well.”

For information on donations to families of those who died, visit the Oklahoma State website.

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