Trinity Holds Vigil for Christchurch Victims

Members of the Trinity community gather at the 

Murchison Bell Tower for the vigil (photo by Jillian Cready)

By Jillian Cready

About 100 Trinity University students, faculty, and staff gathered at the Murchison Bell Tower on Wednesday for a vigil to honor the 50 lives lost last Friday at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Center in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Trinity’s Chaplain Alex Serna-Wallender and a few faculty and staff members, including Trinity’s Director for Diversion and Inclusion Alli Roman, started the vigil by speaking about how this tragedy affected Muslims worldwide. Members of Trinity’s Muslim Student Association read a few phrases from the Quran and reflected on how death is understood in the Muslim community.


MSA members handed out candles to each participant and lit some candles. Around the crowd, people held out their flames to ignite others. Gradually the glow of the candle flames radiated the ground beneath the tower. The MSA students pronounced one by one the name of each of the 50 victims. The Chaplain led a moment of silence to commemorate the victims and their families.

MSA President Arianna Siddiqui told the crowd how this was not the first event she had to organize in grief, and how it certainly will not be the last. She called upon the audience to “actively speak out against these acts of hate.”

Chaplain Serna-Wallender said the vigil “was a powerful testament to the way that Trinity community can come together.” At the same time, he added, “It is not the end, but a continuation of work that each of us needs to be doing daily in the ways that we are confronting Islamophobia, hate, and bias in our own lives and in the communities that we find ourselves part of.”

“Trinity affirms the values of learning, faith, service, and connection to others, honoring the dignity and worth of every person,” said an email Chaplain Serna-Wallender sent earlier to the Trinity community. “And in light of those values, we as a community take seriously our commitment to a Trinity that is not only a safe place for Muslim students, faculty, and staff, but one that strives daily to honor and celebrate the dignity, worth, and inclusion of all.”

Sophomore Suzanna Blalock participated in the vigil, and saw the occasion as “a time of healing and remembrance. It was a time of grievance for us, but also a moment of hope, as all those gathered are also people who fight against hate and can help change our future for the better.”

For those who were not able to attend the vigil but wish to show their respect to the Muslim community, Chaplain Serna-Wallender suggested to start with a self-reflection. “What are the ways that they are, either consciously or unconsciously, giving into rhetoric that is hateful towards others?” He said, “Also, reach out to those in their communities and at Trinity and asking ways that they can be allies.”