NIU students and DeKalb residents gathered Wednesday in the Duke Ellington Ballroom to make ribbons and pins in support of the search to find Antinette ‘Toni’ Keller.

“I would want someone to do the same for me,” said Angela May, sophomore communications major. “I want to support the Huskie family,” May said.

Students said they feel that supporting the search for Keller is their duty.

“This is our sign of support, [we] care about her because it could be any of us,” said Stormi Wilson, sophomore broadcast journalism major.

Keller, who left Neptune North Residence Hall on what friends said she called an ‘art adventure,’ has been missing since last Thursday. Since then, University Police have conducted physical searches around the NIU and Dekalb community.

On Tuesday, Sgt. Alan Smith of the NIU Police said that the University Police concluded their physical search for Keller.

Support for the search of Keller has grown in the last few days in many ways and the ribbon and button-making event is one of them.

Ribbon and button-making began Tuesday afternoon and will continue until Thursday.

Students heard about the opportunity to help raise awareness in a variety of ways. Some read about it online and some attended Tuesday’s meeting where the events were announced. One student just happened to be in the area.

“I heard people talking in the lobby and figured I wanted to help a good cause,” said Ben Isaacs, senior sociology major.

The event is being overseen by a collection of university staff members, including Scott Peska, Director of the Office of Support and Advocacy.

“This is an opportunity to support the students,” Peska said. “It’s critical to feel involved.”

The ribbons are yellow and the buttons have a picture of Keller’s face on them. Both are being distributed around campus by the volunteers who made them.