Student’s used Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to express their solidarity with the Muslim community, as well as to state their opposition to President Trump’s executive order.
Photo by Heather Berzak
In response to President Trump’s executive order of banning seven Muslim countries and refugees from entering the U.S., the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Muslim Students Association, Hillel: The Jewish Student Union and other student organizations gathered at Amphitheater on Valentine’s Day to take a stance against the executive order.
Around 30-40 people showed up to the event, a mix of students, professors and staff.
Professors and students went on stage to give short speeches about their feelings about the travel ban and express solidarity with the people who were affected by the ban. Some students took the opportunity to promote their respective organizations as well.
Katherine McCaffery, one of the organizers of the event and an associate professor of Anthropology, said the reason she thought it was so important to have the event was to demonstrate support to our diverse student body. “We care about all our students,” said McCaffery.
Ahmad Sehwail, vice president of the Muslim Students Association, delivered an empowering speech about the injustices of the executive order. He said that he hopes the event will empower other Muslim students to voice their opinions about the travel ban.
Nicole H., a political science major, also took the mic and expressed her stance on the Muslim ban. She explained that her grandparents immigrated to the United States from Poland in 1938 and she thinks that if the Trump administration continues on this path, history will repeat itself.
“It’s crime against humanity if we don’t help refugees,” she said.
Every once in a while, someone would start a chant like “Refugees in, racists out” or “What does democracy look like? This is what democracy looks like.”
Heather Francis, a sophomore international justice major, came to the event out of interest, but also “to show support and stand in solidarity with the Muslim community.”
