Trinity Announces Peace Vigil To Support Ukraine

Faith Monahan ’24

News Editor

In response to the unfolding crisis in Ukraine, Vice President for Student Success and Enrollment Management Joe DiChristina released a statement on Friday, Feb. 25 supporting members of the community with close ties to Eastern Europe. The College will be holding a peace vigil to pray for peace in the Ukraine on Thursday, Mar. 3. Members of the community will have the opportunity to speak, offer poems, reflections, and prayers.

Over the course of the last week, Russia begun its invasion of Ukraine. NBC News reported on Monday that Russian forces hit residential areas of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv with heavy shelling. The attack was reported to have killed at least nine civilians and left dozens wounded. The United States is expanding sanctions on Russia’s central banks that will bar Americans from conducting business with it and freeze assets it holds in the U.S. Many countries and governmental bodies have denounced Russia’s attacks; demonstrators across the globe have protested the invasion of Ukraine and expressed solidarity with the country and those affected.

“As the world continues to witness the Russian invasion of the Ukraine with dismay and disbelief, our hearts go out to the Ukrainian people and to those affected in the surrounding regions,” said DiChristina in his email to the community. “As an academic community, it is important for each of us to remember that a number of Trinity students, faculty, and alumni are from Eastern Europe or have deep ties to the region. We ask that everyone in our community remember to extend kindness, support, and care to them during this unsettling time.”

“What is happening right now in my home country is the brutal assault on Ukrainians by Putin,” said Iryna Onyshko ’22, a Ukrainian student at Trinity who recently spoke with the Tripod. “The entire world has been passively watching this war unfold thinking that Ukraine will fall within minutes of Russian invasion. Despite everything, Ukraine is bravely withstanding for now. Unless the West learns to stand up for its democratic principles, the outlook the future is in dire.”