For the past year, Brandon D’Annunzio’s friends and family have been trying to rebuild their lives the best they can.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the assault of a 24-year-old Michigan Technological University student outside a downtown East Lansing bar. Brandon, who had been celebrating at a friend’s bachelor party that night, died 10 days later.

Those who knew him still grieve, but in the tragedy there’s hope too.

For Brandon’s mother, Shawn Newstead, that hope comes in the chance to tell her story and prevent a similar situation from happening again. On Oct. 17, she will begin her campus advocacy campaign, appearing with Cindy McCue, whose son Bradley died of alcohol poisoning in 1998 after drinking 24 shots at an East Lansing bar on his 21st birthday.

Nearly a year after Brandon’s death, there is a sense of unity in the remorse we all share over what happened on M.A.C. Avenue that October night. Brandon was a stranger to this town who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but the Michigan Tech student and his family are a part of this community. From the day Brandon was hospitalized, he has never been treated as an outsider.

There are no leads on Brandon’s case, but East Lansing detectives still follow up on tips from the composite sketches of two men and a woman believed to have been involved. Members of MSU’s Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter, the fraternity Brandon belonged to at Michigan Tech, have posted fliers throughout the city.

This community still hopes someone will come forward with some information, any clue to bring Brandon’s killers to justice. Officials hope that on the anniversary of his assault, someone with some vital information might finally come forward and speak out.

And all the while, Brandon D’Annunzio’s family and friends continue trying to move on.

We should all be aware of Brandon’s story. We could learn from the strength his family and friends have shown.

But we also need to know so we can recognize the risks we and our friends take before something serious happens. Responsibility is a point Shawn Newstead hopes to drive home now that she has joined in the cause of alcohol awareness.

Newstead’s life has been irrevocably changed by her son’s death. But in the process, we could be changed for the better. It’s a hard road to have to travel, but we hope the difference she can make in students’ lives helps make it a little easier.

Nothing in this world can take Brandon’s place in the hearts of his friends and family.

But maybe it will help them to know they now have a place in our hearts.