{"id":48381,"date":"2017-12-08T18:01:41","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T23:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=48381"},"modified":"2017-12-10T08:05:24","modified_gmt":"2017-12-10T13:05:24","slug":"vigil-held-in-honour-of-slain-brock-university-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2017\/12\/vigil-held-in-honour-of-slain-brock-university-student\/","title":{"rendered":"Vigil held in honour of slain Brock University student"},"content":{"rendered":"

The mother of slain Brock student Yosif Al-Hasnawi fought back tears and spoke in a hushed voice about her first-born son, as 150 people stood silently listening at a vigil at Brock University on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cYosif had a beautiful soul,\u201d said Amal Alzurufi, \u201cand a smile that would light up any room. His smile was contagious. If he was smiling, you were smiling.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a bright young man with dreams of becoming a doctor, he hoped one day to make a difference in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Al-Hasnawi, a first-year Medical Sciences student, was shot and killed in downtown Hamilton on Dec. 2 while trying to protect an older man from two aggressors. At Friday\u2019s emotional gathering, the 19-year-old was remembered as a hero who inspired others to be better.<\/p>\n

\"Gervan

Brock University President Gervan Fearon speaks during Friday’s vigil in honour of Yosif Al-Hasnawi.<\/p><\/div>\n

Two younger brothers stood with their mother as she spoke of how Yosif showed courage and bravery through his actions, and believed in helping anyone in need.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a beautiful life ahead of him that was just taken away like this. We ask that you keep him in your memories and your prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vigil was organized by Brock\u2019s Student Justice Centre, whose Supervisor Zanab Jafry said Al-Hasnawi\u2019s \u201cincredible sacrifice \u2026 will not be forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remember you today, we will remember you tomorrow and we will remember you always,\u201d Jafry said before a crowd that included senior University administration, spiritual leaders and community members.<\/p>\n

The crowd also heard from Brock President Gervan Fearon, who described Al-Hasnawi as an \u201coutstanding student\u201d who had \u201cdreams and aspirations to contribute to the betterment of others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire University community stands with us today in support of Yosif\u2019s family,\u201d said Fearon. \u201cHe is not with us here today, yet we know that he has left us all with a deeper understanding of the great qualities we should all strive towards attaining as individuals, as members of the Brock community and as Canadians. Indeed, he has set the bar high.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vigil also heard inspirational tributes from Faisal Hejazi, President of the Brock University Students\u2019 Union, Hosam Helal, Brock Imam and Associate Chaplain, and Ana Sanchez, a professor in Brock\u2019s Department of Health Sciences.<\/p>\n

In an effort to preserve Al-Hasnawi\u2019s memory, Jafry asked those in attendance to recite a pledge in his honour:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Yosif Al-Hasnawi: we pledge our commitment and promise to live our lives in the service of others, to dedicate our energy to the betterment of our society, to protect and uplift those that cannot protect themselves. We pledge our wholehearted commitment to not only remembering Yosif\u2019s legacy but taking example from his actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donations are being collected to establish the Yosif Al-Hasnawi Memorial Fund, which will be used to establish a scholarship in his name. Donations can be made online at brocku.ca\/donate<\/a> or by phone at 905-688-5550 x4190.<\/p>\n

Cheques payable to \u201cBrock University\u201d with \u201cIn memory of Yosif Al-Hasnawi\u201d in the reference line can be mailed to Development and Alumni Relations, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1.<\/p>\n

A second community vigil in honour of Al-Hasnawi will be held at Hamilton City Hall Saturday, Dec. 9 at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The mother of slain Brock student Yosif Al-Hasnawi fought back tears and spoke in a hushed voice about her first-born son, as 150 people stood silently listening at a vigil at Brock University on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":48378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,3319,4052,1,4],"tags":[5398,1254,6084,6101],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48382,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48381\/revisions\/48382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}