Members of the Siena College community held a rally yesterday, November 30th, on campus in support of a call to action by the Iranian Scholars for Liberty, a collective group of scholars whose mission is to amplify the voice of the people of Iran. Siena students and members of the faculty participated, as well as the 12th President of Siena, Chris Gibson. The rally participants collectively marched throughout the campus chanting supportive words in solidarity with the people of Iran as they protest for their rights.
The rally at Siena was part of a global effort yesterday to bring attention to the plight of the Iranian people. More than eighty campuses from across the United States also held rallies. Professor Mahmood Karimi Hakak said, "Watching the news coverage of this global rally, I felt extremely proud to see Siena's name next to Yale, UCLA , U of Toronto, and some 200 other colleges and universities world wide".
Iranians have protested en messe since Mahsa (Jina) Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman, was murdered while in custody of the Iranian "Morality Police". Iranian students and faculty have been actively participating in this latest round of protests against the oppressive Iranian regime. According to human rights activists' reports, more than 400 people, including 63 children, have been killed and more than 18,000 people have been arrested since the protests began. In conclusion, Dr. Mohammad Javaheri read the Iranian Scholars for Liberty's statement stressing that "as we are releasing this statement, many students and academics are being assaulted, detained, abducted and held in unknown locations".