One year has passed since the tragic shooting in Chapel Hill that claimed the lives of NC State alumni Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and freshman Razan Abu-Salha. To celebrate their lives, a vigil will be held today in their honor, along with other events throughout the month.
“A Day of Light,” an hour-long candlelight vigil, will take place on Stafford Commons at 6 p.m. with a call to prayer. Family members of Deah, Yusor and Razan, Chancellor Randy Woodson, UNC-Chapel Hill’s Chancellor Carol Folt and students from both NC State and UNC will speak.
President of the Muslim Student Association Mahmoud Tohmaz said writing his speech for the vigil wasn’t easy.
“It was honestly a reflection of how the year went,” he said. “It’s been a year, but it’s never easy to write about these things. I’m not the kind of person who shows my emotions that much, I try to keep that to myself. But when writing it, it was a little difficult.”
Justine Hollingshead, chief of staff for the Division of Academic and Student Affairs, was a lead force in planning the vigil.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been a year,” she said. “I think the vigil is more honoring and remembering and helping folks to continue the healing process and helping to find ways that we can live in their legacy, so that would really be the hope I think for the next couple of days.”
Looking back over the past year, Tohmaz said it has been difficult.
“It’s been rough, especially that day — it was really, really rough because we got the word the night before,” Tohmaz said. “I remember the phone call I received. It was from the previous MSA president, and he called me at like 11 p.m. At that point, we didn’t know any details. We just knew there was a shooting where Deah and Yusor lived. So we didn’t know exactly what was going on, but we were worried. We put the pieces together, and we figured out it was their apartment and we learned that Razan, Yusor’s sister, was there. It was a tough phone call.”
Tohmaz said he was able to make it through the next day; however, he found himself in denial.
“I didn’t really feel it,” he said. “I was in denial. We had the vigil the next day, and it was just a really busy day. Then finally that night I realized, I guess I came to terms with what happened.”
On Feb. 27, the MSA will host their fifth annual Dunking for Deah event,a 5-on5 basketball tournament that raises money for Project Refugee Smiles, a program Deah started that provides dental care and resources to Syrian refugees. Deah originally created the tournament five years ago when he was a member of MSA.
“We really just wanted to continue his legacy,” Tohmaz said.
The cost to sign up is $15 per player until the day of the tournament, when the price increases to $20 at the door. Students can sign up through the NC State MSA Facebook page. The minimum amount of players for a team is seven, and the maximum is 10. The tournament begins at 9 a.m.
On Thursday, NC State alumnus Mohammed Moussa will present a multimedia spoken word performance of poetry, photography and videos that will take the audience through a journey of loss, emptiness, comfort and growth. The event will take place at Stewart Theatre in Talley Student Union, and doors open at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Moussa was a close friend of Deah and wants to commemorate his life, along with the lives of Yusor and Razan. Moussa will talk about the tragedy and the impacts it has had on the community.
On Friday, the Duke Muslim Law Students Association and The Light House Project will host local attorneys and community leaders at Duke Law School at 6:30 p.m. Updates about the criminal trial for Craig Hicks and information on what to do when faced with hate crimes or religious discrimination will be discussed. Panelists will also speak on how to fight for change in hate crime laws in North Carolina and what the non-legal alternatives are for victims of discrimination.
For information on more events the Light House Project is sponsoring, visit http://projectlight.house/events/.
