Last week’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India were, of course, terribly upsetting and tragic. A group of terrorists stormed two hotels (the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi Trident), a busy train station, and a café. They also held up a Jewish Chabad Center in the city, murdering over one hundred innocent people.

Though the attacks occurred quite far from our campus, Penn students have reacted to the tragedy in any way they’ve seen fit. When it comes to such terrible happenings, it can be difficult to emotionally mobilize large groups of people, especially when levels of personal ties to the incident vary greatly.

While there are some Penn students and professors who, tragically, knew people killed, others are simply affected by the utterly terrible senselessness of the murders. There’s always a question of appropriateness when it comes to public grief – how should members of a group react?

According to the Daily Pennsylvanian, a commemorative candlelight vigil was held on College Green this past Monday. Additionally, the Wharton India Student’s Association will hold a panel later in the week to discuss a more practical, perhaps educational outlook on the tragedy.

For all those interested, there will be a memorial service at Penn’s Chabad-Lubavitch House at 4037 Pine Street tonight at 8:00 p.m. A nondenominational, interfaith service will also occur this evening at 5:00 p.m. in the Terrace Room at Claudia Cohen Hall.