About 500 people gathered on the Cal State Long Beach campus today to mourn the 23-year-old university student killed in the Paris Islamist terror attacks.
Nohemi Gonzalez of El Monte, a senior majoring in industrial design, was one of 129 people killed Friday in the series of coordinated attacks at sporting and entertainment venues throughout the French capital.
Gonzalez was one of 17 CSULB students attending Strate College of Design in Paris as part of a semester abroad program. She was killed while having dinner with friends at a popular bistro called La Belle Equipe.
University President Dr. Jane Close Conoley told the somber onlookers the university is a tight-knit community that shares the Gonzalez family’s grief, saying her death at the hands of terrorists tied to the Islamic extremist group ISIS is “an assault on our hearts.”
“We miss her today and we’ll miss her forever,” Conoley said.
CSULB Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Carmen Taylor echoed Conoley’s sentiments.
“We may be a large urban university in a big city, but when we lose a member of our campus community it affects us all,” Taylor said.
The chairman of CSULB’s industrial design program told the Gonzalez family that Nohemi was a luminary among her peers.
“We are all heartbroken that such a beautiful light has been ripped from us,” Dr. Martin Herman said. “(Her) goodness and compassion infused the department.”
Nohemi’s mother, Beatriz Gonzalez, didn’t speak during the hour-long ceremony inside the school’s student union that was followed by a candlelight vigil outside.
Her stepfather, Jose Hernandez, spoke on behalf of the family, referring to Nohemi by her nickname, Mimi.
“Mimi is in our hearts,” Hernandez said. “Mimi is not dead.”
Gonzalez’s boyfriend of four years, Tim Mraz, reflected during his speech on how she would have felt to be the focus of an event like the one held today.
“She would have loved this and hated this at the same time,” Mraz said. “She hated attention.”
Flags flown at half-staff in homage to Gonzalez flapped nearby in the cold, autumn wind during the quiet candlelight vigil.
Social workers and faculty members wearing tags identifying them as crisis counselors were made available.
