On Wednesday evening, the message on The Rock read “Stronger than Hate.”
Following a Monday night vigil at the Arnstein Jewish Community Center to honor the victims of the Oct. 27 mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, UT Jewish student organization Hillel painted The Rock and organized a vigil of their own, attended by UT students and other members of the community.
Hillel director Tara Bain discussed working with the campus community to organize the event.
“Before we had an opportunity to reach out to the university community, they were reaching out to me,” Bain said. “That spoke volumes about the kind of community we have here at the University of Tennessee, and the students have been instrumental in really pushing this through and making sure that the message that we are stronger than hate is prominent here on our campus.”
Hillel member and freshman in anthropology Navit Nachmias explained the contributions she and her fellow students made to organize the vigil.
“Our president (of Hillel) had sent out a message to the rest of the board, and she was like, ‘We should do something, we should paint the rock.,’” Nachmias said. “We were all on board right away because we feel that it’s so much more than an attack on just Judaism. It’s another shooting, and it’s awful.”
“In this, we wanted to represent the people that we’ve lost, and to take a stand and say that we are stronger than hate and that we can get through this,” Nachmias added.
Along with the Hillel members, students came out to stand in solidarity with the Jewish community and those affected by the shooting.
Junior in College Scholars Caitlin Lloyd explained her presence at the event as her concern with the growing problem of gun control and Nazism in the U.S.
“We’re starting to see that collide as a result of Trump’s presidency in the United States. By having this moment and showing that we are united under this front and to take this down we can really address it,” Lloyd said. “This is a problem we’re not just seeing in Pittsburgh. It’s a problem we’re seeing in Knoxville and across the United States, so it’s really important that we all have a united front that we can use to help raise the voices of these people.”
The vigil featured a variety of speakers from the campus community who spoke on standing against hate and encouraged unity. Among the speakers was SGA president and senior in political science Ovi Kabir, who encouraged showing support for the Jewish community.
“As our Jewish community has shown us compassion in the past, it is our time to return the favor and show them compassion in return,” Kabir said. “We say ‘Vol Means All,’ and what that should mean is that all acts of hatred should be condemned and will be condemned in this community. Though we live in divided times, we cannot be divided in justice. I ask that we stand strong with Pittsburgh and let them know that we have their backs.”
The vigil concluded with the lighting of eleven candles to commemorate the lives of the eleven people killed in the shooting and closing remarks from Bain.
“We are all volunteers and Volunteer spirit means helping others,” Bain said. “May we all have volunteer spirit not just tonight, but our whole lives.”
Hillel at UTK hosts a vigil in remembrance of the deaths at the Pittsburg synagogue shooting.
