UPDATED: Feb. 18, 2015 at 9:08 p.m.

The Student Association will be holding a candlelight vigil on Thursday in remembrance of three Muslim students who were shot and killed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The vigil, which is in collaboration with the Muslim Student Association and Hendricks Chapel, will take place at 5 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

Last week, the three students were shot and killed near the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill campus. The father of one of the victims called the killings a “hate crime,” and the FBI announced an inquiry into the case late last week.

Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, was indicted Monday on three counts of murder and one count of discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling.

The event will begin with a purification and a welcome by Dean of Hendricks Chapel Tiffany Steinwert. Muslim Chaplain Richard Russell will then recite Islamic prayers for loss in Arabic and English. Yusuf Abdul-Qadir, an SU alumnus, will deliver a keynote speech, before a student testimonial on Islamophobia. The event will end with the lighting of candles, remembrance and a general prayer.

SA President Boris Gresely announced Wednesday plans for the vigil in a campus-wide email.

Alejandra Avina, SA director of student engagement and a senior political science and anthropology dual major, said the idea for the vigil came from her friend Rahimon Nasa, who wanted to bring awareness of the student deaths. Hendricks held a silent reflection on Feb. 11, but Avina and Nasa wanted to go beyond that.

“We wanted an engaging, testimonial event with educational discussions,” Avina said. “It’s crucial that the Muslim American students on this campus feel safe and heard. We have to ask why this happened and have a conversation about that.”

Avina said that she hopes the vigil will help students become aware of the violence that other students may be enduring because of the various identities they encompass.

“This is an opportunity to pay respect to those identities,” Avina said.

Avina reached out to the MSA and Hendricks to collaboratively plan the event.

Russell, an MSA adviser, said he encourages students to attend the event and stand in solidarity for the students who lost their lives.

“(The vigil) is meant to bring awareness to a reoccurring situation of hate and intolerance,” Russell said. “It will shed a little light on the importance of justice, equality and inclusiveness.”

Russell said he hopes Thursday night’s events will be an opportunity for Muslim and non-Muslim students to find common ground.

“I hope students who attend the vigil will take away an understanding that, as Muslim Americans, though we may have a different code of conduct, we lead the same lives as anyone else,” Russell said. “We’re the same people.”

Published on February 18, 2015 at 3:59 pm

Contact Lydia: lawilson@syr.edu