{"id":141185,"date":"2018-08-31T09:47:45","date_gmt":"2018-08-31T13:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=141185"},"modified":"2018-08-31T10:33:24","modified_gmt":"2018-08-31T14:33:24","slug":"school-shooting-victim-honored-football-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2018\/08\/school-shooting-victim-honored-football-opener\/","title":{"rendered":"School Shooting Victim Honored at Football Opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hours before kickoff for UConn\u2019s first football game of the season, Max Schachter already knew what he\u2019d be doing at halftime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m probably going to be crying,\u201d he said during a visit to the University of Connecticut on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Listen to an interview with Max Schachter from the UConn360 podcast<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Max-Schachter_Edit.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Schachter came to Storrs as part of UConn\u2019s ongoing commitment to the memory of his 14-year-old son, Alex, who was killed in a shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in February, along with 13 fellow students and three staff members.<\/p>\n

Before the season started, the UConn Marching Band announced it would pay tribute to Alex, a trombone and euphonium player in his school marching band, by performing his favorite song, Chicago\u2019s \u201c25 or 6 to 4,\u201d at halftime.<\/p>\n

\"Drum<\/a>
Drum Major Emily Karr '19 (CLAS) wears a ribbon in memory Parkland shooting victim Alex Schachter during the football game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Aug. 30, 2018. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
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Drum Major Emily Karr '19 (CLAS) wears a ribbon in memory Parkland shooting victim Alex Schachter during the football game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Aug. 30, 2018. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"The<\/a>
The UConn Marching Band spells out Alex in remembrance of Parkland shooting victim Alex Schachter at halftime during a football game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Aug. 30, 2018. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
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The UConn Marching Band spells out Alex in remembrance of Parkland shooting victim Alex Schachter at halftime during a football game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Aug. 30, 2018. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"UConn<\/a>
UConn Marching Band members wait for the football team to run onto the field at the start of the game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Aug. 30, 2018. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
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UConn Marching Band members wait for the football team to run onto the field at the start of the game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Aug. 30, 2018. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"UConn<\/a>
UConn Marching Band members wait for the football team to run onto the field at the start of the game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Aug. 30, 2018. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
UCMB180830d059<\/div>
UConn Marching Band members wait for the football team to run onto the field at the start of the game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Aug. 30, 2018. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"UConn<\/a>
UConn Marching Band members perform during the football game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Aug. 30, 2018. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
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UConn Marching Band members perform during the football game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Aug. 30, 2018. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"UConn<\/a>
UConn Marching Band members perform during the football game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Aug. 30, 2018. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
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UConn Marching Band members perform during the football game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Aug. 30, 2018. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"UConn<\/a>
UConn Marching Band members perform during the football game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Aug. 30, 2018. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
UCMB180830d139<\/div>
UConn Marching Band members perform during the football game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Aug. 30, 2018. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Although he lived in Florida, Alex was a passionate Husky fan, growing up with a strong attachment to the University both his mother and uncle had attended. Alex\u2019s family would often include visits to campus as part of summer trips to relatives in Connecticut, including one memorable outing where they encountered Ray Allen, the Husky basketball star who went on to a Hall of Fame career in the NBA, getting ice cream at the Dairy Bar.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlex and his brother Ryan, their heads almost exploded,\u201d Max said, laughing at the memory. \u201cTheir idol was sitting right there in front of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back home in Florida, Alex displayed his devotion by constantly wearing the same gray and blue UConn sweatshirt, his father said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to him, \u2018Alex, if you wear the same sweatshirt every day, people are going to think I don\u2019t buy you any other clothes,\u2019 and he said, \u2018Dad, I don\u2019t care,\u2019\u201d Max recalled.<\/p>\n

After the shooting, when word of Alex\u2019s devotion reached UConn, the University sent him a posthumous letter of acceptance, and also named him a member of the marching and pep bands. The band hung a photo of Alex in their practice room, and left an empty chair in the trombone section.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was early on, when I was just trying to come to grips with the enormity of the tragedy,\u201d Max said. \u201cIt really touched our family, and it was a beautiful gesture of kindness to show they know that Alex loved UConn.\u201d<\/p>\n

In May, Schachter and his wife, Caryn DeSacia, started a UConn scholarship in Alex\u2019s memory, intending for it to be awarded every year to a student in the marching band. Schachter said he\u2019s hoping to raise at least $25,000 for the fund, which people can donate to by texting UCMB to #41444 or by visiting http:\/\/s.uconn.edu\/schachter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Max is also honoring his son by devoting himself to finding ways to prevent shootings like the one that took Alex\u2019s life. The Safe Schools for Alex campaign is working to develop a set of national best practices for school safety, taking in everything from how classroom doors are made to what types of training are given to teachers and other school personnel.<\/p>\n

To this end, Max has met with school safety experts from around the country, and with elected officials ranging from mayors to Vice President Mike Pence. It\u2019s work he never imagined doing, but he said it\u2019s what helps keep him motivated in the face of an unthinkable grief.<\/p>\n

\u201cI struggle every day getting out of bed,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I know we have not made any progress in 20 years since Columbine. This is my mission, and I will get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UConn Marching Band paid tribute to Alex Schachter, a Husky fan who played in his school marching band, by spelling out his name and performing his favorite song at halftime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":141194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2225,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1902],"class_list":["post-141185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uconn-storrs","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-07 04:42:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141185"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141203,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141185\/revisions\/141203"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/141194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141185"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=141185"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=141185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}