Hundreds at Student-led 'We Stand with Mizzou' Rally
About 200 students, faculty, staff stood in silent solidarity
Participants stand silently in solidarity with students at the University of Missouri. Photo by Julie Schoonmaker.
About 200 students, faculty and staff stood outside Duke Chapel Thursday afternoon to express solidarity with the student movement at University of Missouri. Participants held signs reading "we stand with Mizzou" and other messages of support as they stood in silence for 30 minutes.
Several students addressed the crowd at the event. Sophomore Christine Wei urged onlookers to consider what it is like to live in someone else’s skin and think about the issues he or she may face.
“Stand up for your fellow peers,” Wei said. “Stand up for what’s right, to work toward a future in which people can open their minds to love one another as human-beings who exist beyond mere labels.”
Speakers also described challenges they have faced at Duke and called on the university to do more to change the environment for the better.
Danielle Purifoy, one of the student organizers, ended the rally by leading the crowd in a chant.
“We have a duty to fight for our freedom. We have a duty to win. We must love each other and protect each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains,” said Purifoy, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in environmental policy.