By Kashalah Robinson |Staff writerWith mass shootings an almost regular occurrence in the United States, one can easily forget the entire world is facing similar issues. On March 15, there were two consecutive mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks started at Al Noor Mosque and continued at the Linwood Islamic Centre during Friday prayers. The perpetrator live streamed his attacks on Facebook. Fifty people were killed, and another fifty were injured. An Australian man, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 28, has been charged with murder in connection with the attacks. Although the mass shootings took place thousands of miles away, the aftermath has certainly affected students of Augusta University. Muslim students on campus shared their reactions to the tragedy and their experience at AU, as well as being Muslim in the community.“It was really shocking and disheartening because they were just normal people who were going to their prayer,” said Arika Shaikh, a junior cellular and molecular biology student. “Friday prayers are where a larger crowd of people come to the mosque especially for the second prayer of the day called Dhuhr. It is scary because they were doing something that is a part of their daily routine.”Monae Holmes, a junior pre-physical therapy major, wears a hijab and explained that being unmistakably Muslim plays a role in how safe she feels in her community.“It’s scary for someone who is openly Muslim,” Holmes said. “Because I wear a hijab, you know as soon as you see me that I am Muslim, and I’m happy with that. It doesn’t make me want to take it off; it just makes me scared that someone any day could just walk up and do something ridiculous or crazy just because I am Muslim.”Yuman Billal, a junior cellular and molecular biology student, also talked about the reactions that wearing a hijab can cause.“I feel like it has more to do with the older generation feeding hate to the younger generation,” said Billal. “I experienced racism in school, but it’s like they’re kids and it’s their parents’ fault. It’s sad to see parents instill hate into their kids.”Discrimination because of her hijab didn’t end with elementary school. It has still impacted Billal into her adulthood.“I was getting cream cheese and this lady would not stop staring at me,” Billal said. “She wasn’t even shopping. She was just stopped and staring straight at me, and I’m just doing my shopping. She followed me around the store, just staring. I haven’t experienced anything like that before.”As vice president of the Muslim Student Association at AU, Shaikh and the entire organization knew something had to be done to bring awareness to the university community and honor the innocent lives that have been lost and continue to be lost every day. On Wednesday, April 3, in the D. Douglas Barnard Jr. Amphitheater on the Summerville campus at 8 p.m, the MSA will host a candlelight vigil in remembrance of the New Zealand victims and the 134 Fulani villagers murdered in Mali eight days after the Christchurch attack. The event is free and open to the public.For more information about the vigil, contact Arika Shaikh at ashaikh@augusta.edu. Contact Kashalah Robinson at KASROBINSON@augusta.edu.