By: K.C. Jones

BLOOMINGTON, IN- Last Wednesday there was a mournful silence in the IMU, where students massed in a solemn remembrance of the IMU Burger King.

The restaurant, known to senior Will Hyatt as “The best place to roll into high with a crisp five dollar bill at 9 am on a Tuesday,” has closed down after years of serving the IU and Bloomington community. Junior Ralph Seisman refused to believe it: “I thought my roommate was lying to me at first, but I had to accept that I know a Whopper® when I hear it…and that was the truth.”

The candlelight vigil was put together to bring the community together in the wake of its loss. Lacking a snappy jingle to sing, the students instead read BK menu items together softly in mourning. “I thought I could hold it together, but we got to ‘Chicken Fries’ and I just lost it,” said alumna Stephanie Welch, weeping. “That Burger King was the cornerstone of my time here at IU. I was there when I met my boyfriend, I was there when we broke up over an order of fries he wouldn’t share, and I was there the next week too.”

Sophomore Ethan Haste expressed his regret for not appreciating it enough. “Yeah, uh, I came out here to support the Pizza Hut, but Burger King was good too.”

“You know, I think there will always be a piece of me that never left that place,” wept senior Mitch Sharpe. “But life goes on, and in the end, IU got to have it their way.”