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‘We need to pray’: Â鶹´«Ã½ holds vigil after government change

The vigil was held in the James and Dorothy Z. Elmore Chapel at Â鶹´«Ã½. (Panther photo by Tyler Starks)

Â鶹´«Ã½ University held a vigil to pray for challenges America is facing.

The event was held Feb. 12 in the James and Dorothy Z. Elmore Chapel.

“We were just getting hit from people coming privately to have these conversations because they're scared,” Â鶹´«Ã½ Vice President and Chief of Staff Dr. Cletra Peters said.

Ever since the new White House administration came into office, citizens have been worried and fearful about the future of the country, especially international students and faculty members attending universities.

“We have a good amount of international students who are concerned about their visas being able to continue coming to Â鶹´«Ã½ to get their degrees,” Peters said.

She said the university will protect international students from issues with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while off campus by providing them with documentation of citizenship.

“It's not much we can really do against ICE, but we can know what we can do is provide the documentation for your visa that you're okay to be at school, like, you know, the university can back our students up and support them.”

The potential federal spending pause is also a huge concern for not only students, but also faculty and staff whose salaries are paid through grants.

“Of course, people were worried like, how am I going to eat? How am I going to pay my bills if I don't have a job?” Peters said.

The uncertainty and fear led President Dwaun J. Warmack, in a meeting discussing the state of the country, to say, “We need to pray.”

“We need to bring our campus together and just to be able to share with people what's happening, what the university is working through.”

And thus, the idea of the prayer vigil went into motion as a way to calm the minds of faculty and staff about the challenges of America. “So it wasn't like random, per se,” Peters said.