ALLEGANY, N.Y. — Holding signs that read “fight ignorance” and compared the number of Americans killed by terrorists from Muslim-majority countries to those killed by things like lawnmowers and lightning, members of the St. Bonaventure University community gathered Thursday to show solidarity in light of the United States’ recent travel ban of seven Muslim-majority countries.
Approximately 100 St. Bonaventure students, faculty, friars and administrators, as well as members of the local community, held signs, sang and prayed as the snow fell Thursday morning outside Plassmann Hall on campus.
“A big theme on our campus is Bona family,” said Amina Golden-Arabaty, president of St. Bonaventure’s Muslim Students and Allies club. “We are a family and to conceptualize that parts of our Bona family are being discriminated against, or are now being hated by the majority, is something that we don’t tolerate because we’re a family. So coming together was an expression of unity and togetherness of this campus.”
A few students created a Facebook event for an on-campus demonstration after President Donald Trump’s executive order, which does not allow citizens of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Sudan and Somalia to enter the U.S. for 90 days. From there, the event spread to different student organizations and eventually university administration.
“Students started it, and then the friars and even the administration was very quick to contact students involved and say, ‘We’re here to support you, what do you need? How can we help?’” said Anneliese Quinlan, Student Government Association president and former president of College Republicans. “So it was really from all corners of campus.”
The university released a statement Wednesday that its reaffirming its commitment to the values expressed in the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities’ statement opposing Trump’s order, and that it believes in an inclusive community that values diversity. None of St. Bonaventure’s current 57 international students are from countries on the banned list, according to university officials.
Students held signs that stated the numbers of Americans killed a year by lawnmowers and lighting are 69 and 21, respectively, and that the number killed by terrorists from countries banned by Trump is zero.
In the last 40 years, citizens of the seven banned countries have killed no Americans in terror attacks on U.S. soil, according to the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Washington, D.C. Seventeen people from those countries have been convicted of planning or implementing a terrorist attack on U.S. soil in that time. Approximately 3,024 Americans died during that time due to overall foreign-born terrorism, 2,983 of whom died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
“A lot of people are misinformed, not only on our campus, but worldwide,” said Soquania Henry, a sophomore psychology major and member of Muslim Students and Allies. “We felt like having a demonstration on campus would show people we’re actually aware of the things going on outside our campus. … We’re acknowledging all of that instead of us simply tweeting or talking about it.”
Students said they also hosted the on-campus demonstration because St. Bonaventure’s location made it difficult for them to attend events like the Women’s March rallies two weeks ago and airport protests of the travel ban last weekend.
“The closest thing would probably be to drive to Buffalo and Rochester, and that’s a trip for any college student,” said Fraser Breon, a sophomore journalism and mass communication major and Muslim Students and Allies member. “This is a way we could do something and … it was accessible to us.”
Students said it felt particularly important to show solidarity at St. Bonaventure because the university stresses Franciscan values and a variety of faiths are practiced on campus. The university opened its Center for Arabic and Islamic Studies in 2015, and the new on-campus ministries center will include a dedicated interfaith prayer area to allow Muslim students a space to worship.
At Thursday’s protest, students like Quinlan held signs that read “Catholics against Islamophobia.”
“There’s a lot of different faiths that practice on campus,” Henry said. “We’re supportive of all those faiths where each of us learn about faiths that are not our own.”
Golden-Arabaty, a sophomore journalism and mass communication major, said she appreciates that she attends a school that not only allows her and other students to voice their opinions, but also encourages them to do so.
She and her freshman brother, Jordan Golden-Arabaty, who are both Muslims, said Thursday’s turnout gave them hope. Opposition of the travel ban has been heavily discussed across campus this past week, Henry said, adding that it was good to see the community come out as opposed to just “whispering about it.”
“We’ve done other demonstrations where the weather was better and we had less people,” Breon said. “So this was something people clearly cared about and wanted to be a part of.”
