Candles lit up Library Mall as students huddled together on a chilly Thursday night to provide their support after recent events around the world shook many people’s faith and sense of security.
The event, aptly named #PrayForTheWorld, addressed the recent events in Beirut, Baghdad, Paris, Japan, Mexico and Nigeria. Students stood before one another to express their feelings about these events and how they all related.
Kyra Fox, of the Arab Student Association and coordinator of Thursday night’s event, began the vigil with a reminder of why they were all there and the events that occurred around the world these past weeks.
“This past week has seen bombs, earthquakes, shootings and a lot of evil and terror and in the midst of all of the controversy in the media and over Facebook filters, it’s easy to forget that what we are dealing with here is real human lives … these lives we are here to honor tonight,” Fox said.
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After a moment of silence in respect for the lives lost, the group opened up for a public discussion.
Several students stood before the medium sized crowd and spoke about the feelings of love and acceptance they felt from the groups gathering that night. They encouraged others at the meeting to look inside themselves for those same feelings and to not judge others for the actions of a certain few.
Razan Al Dagher, a member of the Arab Student Association, was one of the students who addressed the group.
“I stand here as a representation of the Arab Student Association, to urge you to open up your eyes, to open up your arms to the tragedies that are not only happening in the west, but are also happening abroad; in the Middle East, North Africa, South America, everywhere,” Al Dagher said. “Let us allow those tragedies despite the sorrow and pain they bring, to unite us together.”
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One French student from Paris spoke about her concern and fear for her family and friends in Paris. She was thankful for the students’ support and assured the group that she would not allow others to judge or blame Muslims around the world for the events that occurred in Paris.
The vigil concluded with the group coming together to sing “Hallelujah.”
After the vigil, atendees were invited to then attend a small group discussion in Humanities.
