Friends and loved ones gathered for a candlelight vigil on Friday, where they took turns sharing the impact that an LBCC student, who they referred to as their biggest “cheerleader” has left in the community and in their individual lives to a room full of people.
On Monday, Danny Alvarez Rosales died after being struck by a vehicle in Washington state, where he had recently moved to.
The vigil started with its speech portion that lasted until 6:30 p.m., when the entire event was originally planned to run from 4 to 6 p.m., including speeches and the placing of candles and flowers on an altar dedicated to Rosales.
A friend of his, Eric Becerra, director of student equity at LBCC, put this into perspective, referencing the influence that he had on the people he interacted with around the rose garden in the A building, where he was often seen greeting his friends and giving people campus tours.
“The most interesting thing I found in this space was that he poured into so many people somehow he had this way of making everyone he spoke with feeling like they’re the most important person in the world and that’s a rare quality. He was all about giving right, not about being self-important or aggrandising himself, just really about giving,” said Becerra.
A common description of Rosales was his friendliness, happiness, and supportive nature, with many saying that Rosales was their biggest “hypeman”, often greeting his friends on campus excitedly, by name.
LBCC community members line up to put flowers and candles on the altar dedicated to Danny Alvarez Rosales placed in front of the Justice Scholars Program center at the candlelight vigil on Friday. Rosales was a loved member of the LBCC community, known for his enthusiastic greetings, supportive nature and involvement across various different clubs. He was president of the Justice Scholars Club, worked at the Justice Scholars Program and helped in other programs like Umoja. (Paloma Maciel)
“I don’t know how he remembered everyone’s name. … He would see me like literally (and be like) “Wendy” and come running, and I thought ‘oh my gosh, if we all greeted each other like that, wouldn’t that be so beautiful,” Wendy Porter, the program director for Upward Bound at LBCC said.
A close friend of his, Herica Paniagua, who used to attend LBCC but has now transferred to CSULB, spoke about Rosales’ passion for the LBCC campus, describing the moments when he would be seen eagerly giving LBCC students, or anyone he met, campus tours.
“He would pass through (the rose garden) here with a student. I’m not going to lie to you like ten students a day or even more, back and forth, back and forth with a smile always encouraging them, always talking to them and that welcoming smile that he had blends perfectly with the little area because this is the welcoming center,” said Paniagua.
Priince Bass, ASB president and friend of Rosales, mentioned how Rosales wanted to become a presidential ambassador for the school and asked his friends for reassurance.
“We’re like ‘duh’, he’s the original embodiment of a president ambassador, somebody who shows the school to the elementary school, middle school, high school students, gives them tours, and makes them excited about college. So that’s why we were like oh my goodness, yes you would have been worthy to be a president ambassador. He served in so many areas on campus, he might not of even had time, but knowing Danny, he would of tried to make time,” Bass said.
A picture of Danny Alvarez Rosales is surrounded by flowers, candles and a speech, that were placed on the altar dedicated to him in front of the Justice Scholars Program’s center at the candlelight vigil on Friday. (Paloma Maciel)
Many of his friends recalled Rosales’ funny, vibrant and spontaneous nature, with Rosa Martinez, one of his close friends who he worked with in the Justice Scholars Program, sharing a moment when Rosales started doing snow angels on the floor out of excitement during a university campus tour.
“So we went to Dominguez Hills and you know he was jumping around, he was so hyped and then I see him get on the grass and start doing like snow angels. I’m like ‘what are you doing,’ he said ‘I’m just so happy to be here’. … We recently went to Cal State Long Beach, and we looked at the patch of grass and I looked at him, I was like “are you going to do it again”, he’s like “what” and then he just immediately knew and just dropped down and started doing the snow angel. And he was just so happy about education, he was so happy about transferring and you know he always says that education saved his life,” Martinez said.
Another moment that Martinez recalled with laughter was when Rosales dressed up as a palm tree for the Halloween contest on campus last year as part of the Office of Student Equity’s group costume, when they dressed up as loteria card symbols.
“He comes with a green face and like with a jumpsuit, and I’m looking at him like ‘um what are you on the loteria, you know card, bingo card’. And he said “I’m a tree” and I said “whatchu mean”, and his face was green, his hands you know he’s a brown complexion, so he’s like ‘these are my branches’. And then he had a poster behind him and it just said… “arbol”, and we were just dying, he’s like ‘does it look ok?… And I’m like you look ‘amazing,’” said Martinez.
Danny Alvarez Rosales dressed up in his palm tree costume for the Halloween contest last year on Oct. 31, 2024. Photo courtesy of Brian Burten.
Numerous LBCC students at the vigil shared personal anecdotes they had with Rosales, describing how Rosales was there for them in their toughest moments when they felt emotionally defeated, reading scriptures from the Bible to uplift them and sharing encouraging words.
The day before the vigil, the school hosted a healing circle in the same room, creating a safe space for loved ones to express how they felt about their friend’s sudden death.
The circle, which started small, needed to have more chairs added to it throughout the talk as more people arrived.
By the time the talk ended, the circle lined the entire Social Justice Intercultural Center room, and had a smaller circle of people in the middle, as there was no more space in the original circle.
After the speech portion of the vigil, Rosale’s loved ones walked together to the Justice Scholars Program center, and placed flowers and candles on an altar in honor of Rosales.
Throughout both days, his friends expressed how heartbroken they were that Rosales wouldn’t be able to graduate alongside them in the Spring.
Superintendent-President Mike Munoz, who was present at the healing circle, assured the community that the school would find the appropriate way to honor Rosales at graduation.
A couple of Rosales’ friends mentioned the possibility of naming the rose garden in the A building area after him.
“He led with love, with joy, he was just a beautiful spirit, and I think everything that I saw tonight is just Danny’s spirit still alive with all of us,” Porter said at the vigil.
The altar dedicated to Danny Alvarez Rosales stands in front of the Justice Scholars Program’s center, where Rosales worked and is filled with flowers placed by community members at the candlelight vigil on Friday. (Paloma Maciel)
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