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.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.