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University of Virginia
Thousands marched at the University of Virginia Wednesday night, retracing the route white supremacists took Friday but with a very different message.
Students, joined by faculty members, employees, alumni and local residents, spoke about their outrage at the hateful ideas of those who marched Friday. That march included Nazi chants.
During the march on Wednesday night, participants sang “We Shall Overcome,” “Amazing Grace,” “This Little Light of Mine,” “This Land Is Your Land” and “Lean on Me” -- as well as University of Virginia songs.
One of the speakers was Ryan Keen, who is starting his senior year.
“The greatest power we have to heal is our ability to support each other,” he said. “We have to show what we stand for and what it means to be inclusive. We will not stand for the hate that has been shown here.”
The event included a moment of silence for Heather Heyer, a local resident who was killed when a car slammed into anti-supremacist protesters on Saturday, and for state troopers H. Jay Cullen and Berke Bates. They were helping to monitor the events organized by supremacists on Saturday when their helicopter crashed and they were killed.
Some at the event spoke about how angry they were to see white supremacists at the center of the UVA campus, and how they wanted to make a statement and to "take back the lawn," as the space on campus is known.
The university has a full account of Wednesday night's march here.
