Community Invited to Day of Remembrance for Victims of Atlanta Spa Shootings
LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 23, 2022) — This Sunday, representatives from the University of Kentucky and members of the community will come together in solidarity for a Day of Remembrance for the victims of last year’s Atlanta spa shootings.
The event will take place 1-3 p.m. Sunday, March 27, at the Robert F. Stephens Courthouse Plaza in downtown Lexington, and will include a candlelight vigil, musical performances, poetry readings and remarks by community leaders.
The tentative program includes:
- Korean Drum performance, by UK Korean Drum Troop, which includes UK students and community members.
- Aewlcome and introduction by Keiko Tanaka, project manager of the sustainability project and professor in the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
- A moment of silence.
- Remarks by Charlene Buckles with ACLU of Kentucky.
- Poetry reading by community member Tosha Sun, and music performance by Donna Kwon from UK School of Music.
- Remarks by Tanvi Sawardekar and Jennifer Cheng from the UK Asian American Association.
- Poetry reading by poet Deidra White and musical performance by Yihan Wang.
- Remarks by Nima Kulkarni, Kentucky State Representative.
- Dance performance and speech by Lakshmi Sriraman, a community activist and artist.
- Concluding remarks by Dan Wu, community activist and project partner.
- Guide to the vigil, by Joan Brannon with DrummingWorks.
The event is sponsored by the UK Office of China Initiatives and the UK Office of Sustainability through a sustainability challenge grant project titled “Stories of Asian American & Pacific Islanders in Kentucky.” It is also being organized with support from the Society of Asian American Superheroes, Y’all (SASSY).
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.