President of Amnesty International Soofia Ahmed speaks at a sit-in
on Oct. 10 after her friend was allegedly assaulted for being Muslim.
By Sarah Marchmont
October 13, 2008
Click here to listen to junior Carly Notorangelo recount being with EC student Safia Jilani as she found her locker defaced and then was allegedly assaulted on Oct. 9.
October 12, 2008
Click here to listen to Soofia Ahmed's speech at the sit-in.
October 11, 2008:
EC sophomore Safia Jilani was allegedly assaulted at gunpoint last night in the basement of the Schaible Science Center. This incident was exactly one week after Jilani found her locker defaced with anti-Muslim writing.
According to student Carly Notorangelo, Jilani sent a text message to Notorangelo at 8:47 p.m. saying there was an emergency and asking her to come to the basement bathroom of the Schaible Science Center. Notorangelo and a fellow student, in a meeting on a different floor of that building, immediately went to the basement. When Notorangelo pushed the door open she saw Jilani laying face down, unconscious, on the floor.
“I have that, like, burned on my mind,” she said.
There was also anti-Muslim writing on the mirror.
While Notorangelo checked Jilani’s pulse, the other student called Campus Security. Within minutes Campus Security and Elmhurst Police arrived.
According to Notorangelo, Jilani told police she had talked with the attacker before he struck her, saying, “‘You can shoot me 1,000 times, you can mutilate my body, but God is the one who decides when I die.’”
Jilani refused medical treatment on site, but was taken to an emergency room by her family.
Jilani described the victim as Caucasian, wearing a ski mask, about 5’ 8” and holding a firearm, according to an EC Crime Alert.
Police evacuated the building and locked down the campus. Text messages telling students to stay inside a safe place were sent to students and staff via the campus’ emergency notification system between 10 and 10:30 p.m.
After an hour the lockdown was lifted.
Elmhurst Police and Campus Security are investigating the incident.
The next day a campus-wide sit-in was held at noon and approximately 300 people were present, listening to students, including friends of Jilani, speak out against hate crimes.
“We are not sitting idly by,” Soofia Ahmed, president of Amnesty International, said at the sit-in. “It’s inspiring to know I have such a community to rely on…but I still feel insecure, I still feel unsafe, and that’s unfortunate.”
Ahmed spoke of the need to speak out against acts like these. “We must stand up and rise up in the face of hatred,” she said. “The person who targeted [Jilani] targeted her because she wore a headscarf.”
Campus-wide emails were sent out from EC President Alan Ray, Dean of Students Eileen Sullivan and Student Government Association President Amber Gratz, offering support and asking the campus to provide any information they may have to police.
Group counseling sessions are being offered throughout the upcoming week.
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