UNC students and other members of the campus community gathered last weekend to do some good across the community and remember the life of a former student who was known for volunteering and having a passion for helping others.
More than 400 volunteers provided more than 1,100 hours of service at more than 34 sites across five counties on Saturday, delivering food with Meals on Wheels, constructing homes with Habitat for Humanity, clearing debris from trails and restocking supplies in food pantries. They did all of this work on what’s known in the UNC Adams School of Dentistry as DEAH DAY, which stands for Directing Efforts And Honoring Deah and Yusor.
The annual day of service began after Deah Barakat, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha and her sister Razan Abu-Salha were murdered in Chapel Hill in February 2015. Barakat was a student in the school of dentistry, and Yusor was set to join him. Razan was an undergraduate student at North Carolina State University.
Dean of school of dentistry at Carolina Scott De Rossi said in a release that DEAH DAY “is incredibly special to our school community.”
Deah was known across the school and the Triangle for his volunteer work, especially focusing on feeding those in need and providing dental service to underserved communities, locally and abroad. He and Yusor were planning to travel to Turkey to assist Syrian refugees there, but they were never able to take that trip.
The three Muslim college students were shot and killed just weeks after Deah and Yusor were married. Razan was visiting the newlyweds for dinner at their apartment in Finley Forest Condos in Chapel Hill.
Craig Hicks also lived at the complex and was viewed by other residents as someone with a quick temper and a love of firearms, according to the investigation following the murders.
Hicks entered a guilty plea to the three murders earlier this year. Families of the victims have continued to call the act a hate crime, but federal prosecutors did not ultimately bring those charges. Hicks was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for the killings.
The inaugural DEAH DAY was held by students in the school of dentistry in September 2015 and has continued annually. Barakat’s brother also continues to carry on many volunteer projects in Deah’s name.
Photo via UNC Adams School of Dentistry
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