Michigan Tech students held a rally Wednesday, Nov. 30, in support of freedom and gender equality in Iran. The rally was created to convey a message of solidarity and support for the protestors in Iran who have risked their lives while fighting for equal rights.
It was a part of an international event called Campus Rallies for Iran, which was started by The Iranian Scholars for Liberty. The event involved more than 200 universities across the globe, each having their own march on Wednesday supporting the cause.
Kmanad, a rally attendee, said that “[The Universities] are doing this at the same time to promote awareness” as well as helping people “understand that this is so important for Iran because it has been going on for forty-seven years now.”
The event was originally planned as a march across the school grounds, going from the Husky Statue in the center of campus to the Rozsa Center. However, freezing temperatures along with heavy wind and snowfall forced the Iranian Community at Michigan Tech to change their plans.
Despite the weather, the rally continued, only on a shorter path from the Husky Statue to the Memorial Union Building (MUB). In the MUB commons, a representative of the Iranian Community at Michigan Tech, K.K., gave a statement of support for the protesters in Iran.
“More than 400 people, including 63 children have been killed and more than 18,000 people have been arrested since the protests began.” they said “As we are releasing this statement many students and academics are being assaulted, detained, and held in unknown locations.”
The rally was filled with more than twenty Iranian men and women, each showing their support for the cause.
When asked what the protests in Iran meant to them, one of these students, Soufia, told The Lode: “I think it’s a big way for women in Iran to find a way to get their rights.”
The rally concluded with members of the Iranian Community at MTU making hand gestures of themselves cutting their own hair, a recent symbol of Iranian protests for women’s rights.
In their statement, K.K. gives a call to the rally’s ultimate goal: “We believe that the unity of the academy voice and leveraging our platform to promote democratic values will influence the world’s interactions with Iran and will advance the world toward peace and equality.”
