By Miranda Fisher

With Rob Atkinson’s passing in the hearts and minds of many of the conference attendees, a brief memorial was held for him Sunday morning as a way to celebrate his life and all his work with the campaign.

Martin Fergus, the state organizer in Texas and the President of the Student Peace Alliance chapter at Southwestern University where Rob attended school, started the memorial by sharing stories about Rob and his involvement with SPA at Southwestern. He gave us a glimpse into Rob’s life while at school and reminded us of Rob’s enthusiasm.

Shands Pemberton was welcomed onto the stage and as Rob’s best friend and pledge bother in their fraternity, Shands inspired us to hold the messages Rob shared with each one of us close to our hearts. 

Back in November, Rob wrote an e-mail to Executive Director of SPA, Aaron Voldman, outlining his intention to move to Washington D.C. to dedicate his life to the campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace. To honor Rob’s dreams and goals, Aaron read this e-mail aloud.

To conclude the memorial, Jan and John Atkinson, Rob’s loving parents, invited us to be apart of their family for a brief moment. Throughout the room, the Peace Alliance family come together to remember Rob and send all of our love his way.

Rob: You are truly missed but we know you are here with us and your message and love for this campaign will carry on! We love you buddy!