Scholarship Named for Seattle-Pacific Shooting Hero
Jon Meis received standing ovations for his bravery during the campus shooting.
June 15, 2014— -- A scholarship has been created in honor of the hero student who helped take down a gunman at Seattle Pacific University during a deadly shooting earlier this month.
Jon Meis, a senior at SPU who heroically tackled and pepper-sprayed the gunman, graduated from SPU this weekend. He reportedly took down the gunman while he stopped to reload a shotgun.
SPU President Daniel Martin announced that a scholarship had been created to honor Meis, according to ABC News affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle.
"In recognition and honor of Jon's quick thinking, selfless act and brave response, we are establishing the John Meis scholarship," Martin announced to the graduating class on Saturday.
Meis, who was an engineering major, received two standing ovations during the graduation ceremony. The scholarship will go toward an engineering student in future years.
The class wore ribbons on their graduation gowns to commemorate the victims of the shooting, including one student who was killed and two who were injured.
"We grieve the loss of our student, your classmate, Paul Lee. We continue to pray for those who are hurting physically and emotionally," Martin said at the graduation.
The suspect in the shooting, Aaron Ybarra, has been charged with murder and is being held without bail. Police believe he walked into the engineering building with a shotgun and opened fire on classmates before stopping to reload, which gave Meis the chance to tackle him.
SPU graduated 900 students in this year's class.
"I would not feel OK going up there if there wasn't something that we all agreed to be wearing and doing together," student Anastasia Munshell said.