Iranian students and faculty at UCF organized a heartfelt memorial on Tuesday to honor the lives lost during the ongoing January revolution in Iran.

The memorial ran from noon to 2 p.m. and was concluded with a solitary march around the union. The event was organized in partnership with UCF’s branch of Students Supporting Israel, a “pro-Israel grassroots movement” according to the organization's Instagram, which worked in combination with Iranian students and faculty.

The event was set up to promote solidarity with the local Iranian population in light of the ongoing violent response from the Iranian regime to protests across the country. The event raised awareness for the longtime plight of the Iranian people.

The sprouting of the protests in Iran happened right before the new year as frustrations grew with the Islamic Republic government due to a sudden plunge in the value of Iranian currency, the rial, compared with the U.S. dollar. The tree sprouted in Tehran and spread its revolutionary pollen across the nation as other provinces followed suit with their own anti-government demonstrations.

One of the organizers, Fam, who is in UCF's master's program for computer science, requested to use an alias out of fear of retaliation towards his family living in Iran. Fam said that this is about much more than what has been happening in recent months.

“Some believe this is a political gathering," Fam said. "We believe this is a gathering against genocide.”

The protests have since taken a turn after the Iranian government imposed a nationwide internet blackout, shortly followed by inside reports and leaked videos showing systematic executions being used to deter the protesting Iranian population. The Iranian government has confirmed at least 3,000 deaths, but this number is being disputed heavily by human rights organizations, including the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The memorial was organized to better connect students who are being personally affected and to inform the general student population about the ongoing tragedy.

Over 50 students, faculty and members of the community gathered just beyond the student union and held signs, chanting to bring down the ruling regime. 

Multiple bystanders stopped to listen, including Alexander Staton, a junior philosophy major.

“I believe in human rights. If it's a violation to the level in which they say, then it's definitely something I should make myself aware of, “ Staton said.

Two separate speakers, Maddy Delia and Rinat, who also did not want to be named for fear of familial retaliation, spoke to the crowd about the specifics of Iran’s crackdown. The speakers led the crowds in chants, shouting out cries of “Down with Dictator!” and “Freedom for Iran.”

Delia said she was at a Change My Mind segment with the Central Florida Young Republicans when the topic of Iran came up. She was motivated to speak at Tuesday's event by some of the responses she heard.

“I don't think they [Americans] understand that Iran is absolutely an American problem,” Delia explained.

Some attendees were worried about the backlash their families may face for having gone to an event that was organized by SSI. However, they said there were not many options for the memorial.

“We don't have any registered organization here, so we reached out to a lot of organizations about having a gathering to support the people of Iran who are dying in the streets and most of them did not respond to our emails. Only SSI replied back," Fam said. 

Rinat said she wanted to come out and speak as it has been heavy on her heart in recent weeks.

“The last 47 years, the beloved people have been living under this oppressive dictatorship,” Rinat said. “They are just occupying Iran.”

Once the speakers concluded, the crowd that had gathered went silent for two minutes in remembrance of the lives that had been lost during the January revolution. They held up peace signs as the Iranian flag silently flew in the background.

Each sign had its own message, with some just being paintings of a bleeding outline of Iran and others having the same chants being echoed at the memorial.

The Iranian flag stretched along the side of the tent, with tables set up showing even more victims, strings running along the side for even more photos, featuring the ages at which they became victims. A long banner stretched across the front of the tent saying, “Freedom for Iran,” and showing the Iranian coat of arms. 

Kai, a sophomore dual computer science and engineering major from Haiti, stopped to watch and said she could feel the hearts of the people at the event. She requested that only her first name be given because of what is happening in her own country.

Kai said she stopped by the event because she understood what it is like to come from somewhere in so much distress.

“I want everything to stop. They don't have any freedom, and they've been killing over there," Kai said. "I am not okay with this.”

The event concluded with the group gathering in a large circle for a final chant, before setting out on a solemn walk around the student union, some hand in hand. With the group gathering in a large circle for a final chant, most students just passed without a second look, which is why many felt the memorial was needed in the first place.

"What we want from the free world is to be our voice. They are fighting at the forefront of freedom, liberty, and human rights for everyone. So if we close our eyes to their struggle today, we might find ourselves alone tomorrow," Rinat said.

"Silence protects oppression, awareness creates chance, so let's be that chance," Rinat added.

By Joseph Wiedeman