The rock arrangement spelling “Harambe” is located in the Merrimack River. (Courtesy of Evanthia Tully)
The night of the Harambe bar crawl was a huge success, but the hype didn’t end there. Students dared to trespass onto the Merrimack River and create Harambe’s name out of rocks.
The artists’ display can be seen from the University Avenue bridge. What would possess these people do commit such a random crime?
Well it is no surprise to any student because for weeks now they have been idolizing the deceased silverback gorilla. Several student-oriented events were held to support Harambe. The culprits who wrote Harambe’s name in rocks in the Merrimack River are still at large.
Many students have found that the constant reference to Harambe is getting old. “Honestly it just seems like overkill,” said senior Celin Carlo-Gonzalez. “The Harambe thing was funny but it’s like beating a dead joke now like people holding onto ‘suh dude.’”
Graduate student Thomas Arlauskas also agrees that the Harambe joke is over. “It was funny when I saw the videos on barstool but now it’s getting old,” said Arlauskas.
He was one of the many students that did not see the student creation displaying Harambe’s name and still agreed that the joke needs to end.
Other students found the display to be comical. “Once I saw it, I knew I needed to get a picture of it,” said junior Zach Daigs.
Many students followed in his footsteps and decided to post pictures on social media. People who have posted it have also tried to get media attention but were unsuccessful.
Harambe has been a common theme throughout the UMass Lowell community. Even though it is an old joke, the student body has found a way to bond over the animal’s death and in this way Harambe has brought everyone closer together. To promote one of the September soccer games, UMass Lowell handed out stuffed animal Harambes to get more students to attend. The game attendance was a huge success and even got a lot of surprising media coverage from outside news networks. If that was not enough, the annual back to school bar crawl was also themed after him.
Harambe may be dead but his legacy lives on. As junior James Scherer said, “The guy’s a legend – almost everyone knows Harambe.”
