THURSDAY APRIL 25, 2019
Candlelight vigil held for victims of Sri Lanka bombing Students and staff honor those affected by terrorist attack in front of CSU MARIA LY STAFF WRITER The Sri Lankan and Minnesota State University, Mankato community gathered together in a candlelight vigil service held for the victims of the Easter Sunday bombings. The service took place this Tuesday night on the Centennial Student Union lawn near the fountain. The breeze whispered as the moonlight shone on the Centennial Student Union lawn, but despite the weather, an unrest was in the air due to the recent Easter bombings in Sri Lanka. Students gathered with candles in hand, some with sympathy in their faces, others with disbelief and heartbreak. Together they spelled out “Pray for Sri Lanka” on the lawn and stood around in a circle, candles
John Shrestha | MSU Reporter
shining brightly illuminating the grassy area. Students and community
members, with candles in hand, stood in silence as they commemorated the victims.
Shamini Abeykoon, a Sri Lankan student, started the service as she thanked the
audience for coming to the vigil. She stated, “I don’t think anything I say is going to heal our wounded hearts at this point, because we live in fear and not being able to be in Sri Lanka with our families is not easy for us. We are here to mourn the loss of 320 innocent souls and to pray for recovery of the wounded which is about 500 as of yet and counting. Once again, I would like to end this by thanking each and every one of you. Having you here is a great strength for us to get through these dark times.” Salinda Jayaweera, another Sri Lankan student, gave another heartfelt speech about the grief he and his
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Women take back power at Take Back the Night MARIA LY STAFF WRITER Students and community members share stories of sexual assault, harassment, and domestic abuse before marching the streets in solidarity this past Tuesday. Emceed by Kathy Thao, a graduate assistant in the Women’s Center, introduced the speakers and talked about resources in the community such as the Violence Awareness Program (VARP) and Committee Against Domestic Abuse (CADA). She pointed out to the confidential advocates in the crowd and how students can reach out to them through VARP and the Women’s Center for support in cases of sexual assault. Liz Steinborn-Gourley talked about the origin of take back the night. She explained how it started in the 70s
Maria Ly | MSU Reporter
in communities across the country, in Philadelphia and the murder of a prominent woman scientist and the protests that followed along it, in California and the protest against snuff porn and violence against women, in Belgium and England and the protests that took place because of the danger of
women to be outside at night. She stated, “Ultimately all of these marches share a rage that women were not able to fully live in their communities because of fear of harm, fear of violence, fear of sexual assault. This rally and march serves several purposes, to give survivors a space to tell their stories without fear
IN THIS ISSUE: Festival of Peace and Unity this Friday ......... Page 2
First Wacipi at MNSU............................... Page 10 2019 Mavs Got Talent .............................. Page 11 Football set for spring game ................... Page 16
of judgement, to educate others on the prevalence of sexual violence, and to unify us against sexual assault.” She also talked about the theme of sexual assault month of consent and the phrase “I ask”. She gave tips on affirmative consent and how to practice it. We can practice affirmative consent
by asking our friends if we can hug them before we do, by asking if it’s ok to share a photo we’ve taken on social media, learning to talk about what we do and we don’t like when it comes to our bodies, etc. Tiffnie Jackson, the Director of Racial Justice at YWCA, also spoke at the event. She talked about the YWCA mission statement of “eliminating racism and empowering women”. She talked about the history of violence in our country from slavery to lynching to sexual assault of women. Jackson stated, “Violence cannot drive out violence, only the solidarity of us who say we will demand to live in this society where violence doesn’t rule, can actually make that change. “
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WEATHER OUTLOOK: THURSDAY (4/25)
H: 69 L: 40 Partly sunny.
FRIDAY (4/26)
SATURDAY (4/27)
H: 61 L: 39
H: 40 L: 28
Periods of sun.
Rain, snow mix early.
SUNDAY (4/28)
H: 53 L: 39 Cloudy, spotty showers.
MONDAY (4/29)
H: 52 L: 39 Few showers possible.
Have a story idea? Email News Editor Madison Diemert madison.diemert @mnsu.edu