Vigil commemorates victims of New Zealand mosque attacks

The Rice Muslim Student Association held a candlelight vigil March 20 in the Academic Quadrangle to commemorate the lives of the 50 people killed and 50 injured when a gunman opened fire at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15.

Co-sponsored by the Boniuk Council and the Rice Student Association, the vigil gave members of the Rice community an opportunity to express their solidarity with the Muslim community and extend their prayers to grieving families in New Zealand.

“Our presence in support of our Muslim community members speaks loudly in rejecting the hatred and violence that produces such attacks,” wrote Rice President David Leebron in a statement ahead of the event. “We must stand together against such bigotry and violence, here and everywhere.”

In further support of Rice’s commitment to this solidarity, an Islamophobia teach-in will take place March 27 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Miner Lounge at the Rice Memorial Center.

A student-led discussion over lunch will be bookended by talks including “Islamophobia and Muslim Women” by Elora Shehabuddin, associate professor in the Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality, and “Islamophobia in America: Manifestations, Roots, Impacts and What You Can Do” by Zahra Jamal of the Rice’s Boniuk Institute. (Photos by Jeff Fitlow)