University of Wyoming students hold peaceful vigil for Palestinian and Israeli dead amid international turmoil

Amid thousands of student arrests and harrowing protests on U.S. and international college campuses, the Friday afternoon vigil at the University of Wyoming honoring those killed during the Israel-Palestine conflict seemed particularly peaceful.

At the vigil’s peak, more than 40 people stood in the cold and wind at a plaza near the Wyoming Union to pay silent tribute to those who’ve died since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel that triggered an Israeli retaliation on Gaza that continues to this day. 

“We will now stand in silence one second for every Palestinian and Israeli life that has taken since Oct. 7th to mourn and protest the unjustness of their deaths,” said senior computer science student Beckham Carver. “To put into perspective the asymmetry, in total, it would be 19 minutes for the Israeli people, one second for each. And 9 hours and 37 minutes for the Palestinians.”

Other student protesters have called on their universities to be more transparent with their investments and to divest from certain Israeli and U.S. corporations involved in weapons financing and production. Those calls have come in the form of rallies, sit-ins and even student encampments.

Some people are working to make UW’s investments more readily available, Carver said, and to encourage divestment from military contractors. This vigil, however, wasn’t about that, he said.

“The main goal is to mourn the deaths of every life that has been lost in this conflict,” he said. “It’s been needless.”

Off to the side, UW residence life director Ryan Schamp leaned against a rock. He said he was there to make sure the students were safe.

“I just wanted to be here to show some support, and then if things got in any way spicey, just to be around to calm people,” he said. 

Not far away, a few University of Wyoming police officers stood silently watching the vigil. They were in uniform, but not riot gear. 

UW Police Chief Josh Holland said he’d heard about the vigil a few days before. He would’ve already been in the area for a celebration happening at the same time, he said, but was glad to watch over the group and supports the peaceful gathering. 

“We’re grateful that folks want to do this and want to be respectful of each other’s positions, and we’re just here to make sure that they can do so safely,” he said. “[The] gathering is actually larger than I thought it’d be with the weather.”

It was around 40 degrees out, but the “feel like” temperature was 29. Dark gray clouds threatened rain and the wind blew, but undeterred college students still occasionally walked by in shorts and T-shirts. Vigil participants passed around hand warmers as fingers stiffened. One man held a staff bearing the Palestinian flag with bare hands, even as they turned red. 

By 4:30 p.m., snow started falling in earnest. Springtime in Wyoming. 

Nearby, students bounced down an inflatable slide, rollerbladed and ate cotton candy at Unionfest, an annual party celebrating the end of the academic year. Events were moved inside once it was clear the weather would not cooperate. Still, a large stage stood on Prexy’s Pasture, ready for the bands that were set to perform. 

Opposition to the vigil was minimal. 

In the first hour, a few passers by muttered comments, but no one stopped long enough to argue, much less initiate a confrontation. One vehicle drove by blasting loud music. A van with sayings like “Come to Jesus” and “Trust Jesus” pasted on it passed by. The loudspeakers attached to its roof went unused. 

After the first two hours, a group of young men arrived with a large American flag. Blake Hogan, a business school freshman, said he’s seen videos of protests elsewhere and wanted people to know that antisemitism doesn’t have a place at UW.

“We came out here, put up a flag to try to show what this is all about, the American experience. There’s nothing more American than Wyoming, being a cowboy,” he said.

The counter protestors swapped out flag-holding duties periodically. They left in about an hour.

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This largely silent vigil at the University of Wyoming stood in stark contrast to student protests at colleges like UCLA and Columbia University, where students erected encampments, clashed with police and were arrested. 

Congress has gotten involved. President Joe Biden has weighed in. When asked whether the protests have made him rethink his policies in the region, he said they did not. 

This all follows an estimated 1,200 Israelis deaths in an attack by Hamas militants in October and 34,000 Palestinians deaths during Israel’s retaliation.

Back at the UW vigil, a woman handed out flyers. One called for a ceasefire and listed phone numbers for Wyoming’s Congressional delegation. Another advertised a course being taught by Eric Nigh, who attended the vigil for a while. That summer course would provide a “multi-narrative perspective on the Islraeli-Palestinian Conflict” the flier said.

UW is not immune from tense protests, including one in 1970 where the National Guard was called in. But this chilly spring day didn’t attract nearly as many people nor a similar response. 

People left a few at a time over the next several hours. Meanwhile, recorded music coming from the adjacent stage attracted more students to migrate out from the Wyoming Union. 

Nearby, a young woman stood for graduation pictures and a little girl in a tutu played in Prexy’s Pasture.