Repainting a university sculpture is a popular tradition at UBC Okanagan, but the most recent paint job has a serious message.
On Thursday a group of students at the Kelowna, B.C. campus painted the engineering faculty’s letter “E” sign in the colours of the Iranian flag.
It’s an effort to raise awareness about the demonstrations and government repression happening in that country.
“We are now in the midst of a very conscious and organic revolution led by women in Iran. Today (and) every day for the last seven weeks young brave women and men are sacrificing their precious lives to retrieve their priceless liberty and freedom,” said engineering professor Ray Taheri.
For PHD student Yazdan Gordanpour, the situation in Iran is clear-cut.
“We usually think of politics and protests as having several sides and nuances. It is really clear that the government is oppressing people and is killing people,” said Gordanpour.
“People are fighting for their freedom, for their rights to wear whatever clothes they want to wear, to think the way they want to think and live the way they want to live.”
Taheri said it has been heartbreaking for students with ties to Iran to watch events unfold from afar.
“I interact with them on a daily basis and I can see how sad they are, their friends (have) been arrested or injured, or in a couple of cases they’ve been killed. They are carrying this feeling that they can do nothing,” Taheri said.
So for students and faculty, painting the sculpture with the Iranian flag and the protest slogan “Women, Life, Freedom,” is a way to show their solidarity, despite the distance.
“While the youth and the women are actually fighting on the streets for freedom, for human rights in Iran, what they actually need of us is to just amplify their voice,” said Gordanpour.
“It hasn’t really reached that mainstream exposure that it really needs,” said fellow student Donya Hatami.
“Silence is really the biggest killer in a situation like this. So even if people just see this, they see that slogan and it intrigues them and it encourages them to find out more about the situation, that is really the best thing.”
As events in Iran continue to unfold, Taheri said plans are underway to keep raising awareness in the Okanagan.