Hundreds of greek members walked to Showalter Fountain to honor a fallen Theta Phi Alpha sister.
Along the way, down the Jordan Extension, sneakers scraped pieces of gravel. One after another, boots clacked against the pavement.
Freshman Amanda Ludwig and her mother, Elaine, were killed in a car accident Saturday. The greek community came together Wednesday night for a candlelight vigil to honor her memory.
Only streetlights and the headlights of an occasionally passing car illuminated the students as ?they walked.
People whispered throughout the procession, but the atmosphere was mostly quiet as they treaded south. Traffic was stopped as they walked, at both 10th and 17th streets.
Students pooled into the courtyard of Showalter Fountain until about 9:45 p.m. Family members and Ludwig’s sorority sisters arrived last, holding white roses and unlit candles.
Amanda’s sisters wiped tears from their eyes and walked up the IU Auditorium steps with linked arms. Once at the top, they faced ?the crowd.
A semicircle formed around the chapter president, Madi Taylor, as she addressed the crowd.
She spoke loudly — without a microphone — to the students at ?the vigil.
“I’d like to thank the greek community for lifting up my chapter,” she said.
As she spoke, members of the sorority lit each other’s candles. The students circling Showalter Fountain also began lighting candles.
Sisters who knew Amanda best began speaking to the crowd of ?hundreds.
One at a time, they spoke about their fallen sister.
A young woman stepped into the semicircle and said she was a good friend of Ludwig’s.
She described looking at the Facebook pages of their new pledge class for the sorority this year. She specifically remembered seeing Ludwig’s page.
She said Ludwig was witty, fun and someone who grew stronger every day. She said Ludwig and her sorority “big” had an incredible ?relationship.
“They weren’t just big and little,” she said. “They were soul mates.”
Ludwig’s big spoke next, describing the support Ludwig gave to her during stressful times this year.
Her big had been stressed about graduate school until Ludwig had reassured her.
She looked up every graduate school her big was interested in applying to, telling her she had nothing to worry about with admissions.
“She was more of a big than I ever was to her,” she said. “She was the greatest best friend I ever had. She knew me better than anyone else ever has.”
Finally, Ludwig’s cousin Eric Haberthier read parts of her eulogy he wrote for her funeral Friday.
He spoke about Ludwig’s relationship with her mother and how smart, kind, caring and positive she was.
“Having those qualities didn’t make Amanda unique,” he said. “What made her so special was that she was ours.”
He turned around to the members of Theta Phi Alpha and thanked them for being such great friends ?to Amanda.
He said Amanda chose them to be part of her life and that he was grateful for everything that they did for her during her time at IU.
One of her sorority sisters reminded the crowd of their amazing connection.
“She may have been born an only child, but she left this earth with a hundred sisters.”
