On Thursday, Student Association in conjunction with the Muslim Student Association and Hendrick’s Chapel will hold a candlelight vigil to honor the lives of the students who were murdered last week in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This service is a sign of solidarity from the SU community and gives students the opportunity to confront modern day prejudices.

On Feb. 10, Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, a dentistry student at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21; and her sister Razan Abu-Salha, 19, a student at North Carolina State University, were murdered by a neighbor. Chapel Hill police reported that this attack was sparked by a parking dispute, but family members believe this attack was a hate crime fueled by Islamaphobia.

The candlelight vigil at SU will be held at 5 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel, it was announced through an email from Student Association president Boris Gresely.

SA putting on this vigil and making it known to the student body is reflective of how students should be the ones to speak out against this injustice and honor the victims. This service is a sign of religious tolerance and can unify the student body in the light of this tragedy. While catastrophes like this can happen anywhere and are never anticipated, these senseless killings hit especially close to home because they affected college students like those at SU.

In addition to remembering the lives of those slain, SU should reflect on how everyday prejudices can affect its campus. This extreme form of prejudice took the lives of students at university that is not unlike our own.

Racial and religious discrimination are not things of the past — they are present and they are volatile. While discrimination doesn’t always come in such a radical form, it is not extinct.

With minority students making up just 25.8 percent of the student body, the majority of students on campus have the privilege of putting the issues of racial and religious discrimination out of the forefront of their minds. But that should not be the case.

This vigil should serve to show SU students of all religious beliefs that they are not alone and that they have the support from the campus community. It should also serve as a wake-up call for students to take ownership of their obligation to actively work against hate in all of its forms.

Published on February 19, 2015 at 12:00 am