Egypt vigil

After tonight’s very moving vigil in solidarity with the people of Egypt, I wanted to share a few thoughts that I had about the event. The turnout was outstanding, as about 50 people showed up to show their concern for and unity with the people of Egypt. The speakers reinforced the ideals of universal freedom and humanitarianism in a manner of utmost sincerity and eloquence. However, of the 50 people present, I was one of only a handful of undergraduate students—maybe half a dozen—who attended the vigil, along with about the same number of Student Affairs staff members. The rest of the crowd consisted of visitors to Duke’s campus from the Triangle community. While it was great to see area residents on Duke’s campus, the lack of student presence was truly underwhelming and disproportionate to the inspiring message of the event. Personally, I have no connection to the events in Egypt, but I have been following the developments in the news and believe that all people have a right to be treated in a humanitarian manner. But far more importantly, someone at Duke had enough interest and passion to invest in planning and executing a vigil so that the least I could do was support members of our community who are directly affected by the turmoil and unrest. This is the true reason I attended, and I am disappointed more Duke students could not see it this way as well.

Eli Kozin

Trinity ’14