More than 100 people gathered Thursday night in Library Mall for a candlelight vigil to honor the lives lost in recent tragedies around the world and to promote unity on the UW-Madison campus.
Kyra Fox, a UW-Madison student, reached out to the Arab Students Association, the Muslim Students Association, Amnesty International and Students for Justice in Palestine following the deadly Paris terrorist attacks. More student organizations contacted Fox throughout the week to get involved with the event.
The vigil began with an introduction by Fox detailing the importance of students coming together in trying times.
“The event is meant to be an event of unity,” Fox said.
After the president of the Pakistani Student Association recited a short prayer, the crowd stood silently blocking its candles from the wind to honor the victims of the recent tragedies in Beirut, Baghdad, Paris, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria and many more.
After the moment of silence, Fox invited members of the crowd to speak about their personal experience with the tragedies.
Many members of the community told the crowd about the need for unity—rather than revenge—following such a dramatic loss of life. Razan Al Dagher, the president of the Arab Student Association, was one of the last speakers before the vigil ended.
“This tragedy has brought us all together. As unfortunate as it sounds, tragedy brings us together. When a community needs it, everyone else unites,” Al Dagher said.
The speakers from the crowd matched the diversity of the vigil’s organizers. One speaker was born in Paris and still has family living near the site of the bombings, while another lived in Saudi Arabia for 20 years of his life. They all advocated for the need for love.
“It was really exciting to see people from so many different backgrounds coming together and focusing on our similarities over our differences,” Fox said. “Like so many people mentioned, the divisiveness is not going help us heal, it's our unity and what we have in common, which is so much.”
The candlelight vigil concluded with the crowd singing “Hallelujah” in unison, led by Fox.
A brief discussion led by the event’s organizers was held in 2111 Humanities immediately after the vigil.
