On Turlington Plaza, an outline of a body was chalked on the ground.
Rana Al-Nahhas, the president of the UF chapter of Students Organize for Syria, said the chalk outline symbolized how Syrian refugees could be part of the university, but they aren’t.
“The situation is a million times worse than what we’re portraying,” the 21-year-old UF psychology senior said.
Tuesday, the UF organization held a silent protest to raise awareness, asking UF to offer five scholarships to Syrian refugees coming to study in the U.S.
On Turlington Plaza, members of the organization sat on the ground and held signs encouraging students to push the university to support their cause.
Al-Nahhas said she hoped to get more than 1,000 signatures on a petition to present to university administration.
In the past six years, the death toll has risen to more than 560,000 Syrians, most of whom were women and children, Al-Nahhas said. Last week, 35 people, mostly students, were killed in Idlib, Syria, she said.
Al-Nahhas said five scholarships are not enough, but because the issue is controversial, she thinks it’s a good number to start with.
“All we want is to raise awareness and provide this humanitarian right that these people deserve,” she said.
Matt Fernandez, 20, signed the petition and said he barely noticed the protest on Turlington Plaza.
“Everyone should have an equal opportunity to education,” the UF special education junior said. “It’s not their fault that their country doesn’t produce for them.”
He said the protest was more peaceful than what you hear about in the news, adding that he thinks they were right in exercising their free speech.
“I think that they’re fighting for something that’s right,” he said.
From left: Mashli Fleurestil, a 22-year-old UF biology senior; Rebecca Prince, an 18-year-old UF health science freshman; and Mariana Suguieda, a 19-year-old UF microbiology and cell science sophomore, hold signs to encourage students to sign a petition to bring Syrian refugees to UF.
