Image taken by KCL French Society
More than 100 students attended a minute’s silence on the Strand Quad to remember the victims of last Fridays attacks in Paris.
The King’s College French Society held the vigil at 11am to coincide with the 12pm minute of silence held across France.
International Relations student and French Society president Agathe Destruhaut said, “This was an attack on humanity and not just Paris alone.”
“The reaction from King’s has been really good. Some universities in London are not holding any events at all, and in King’s they’ve offered counselling services, they’ve contacted students and teachers in Paris to make sure that they are safe, and teachers said that students can skip class if they need to.”
“It was really nice to see social media support, and increasingly we are seeing people acknowledge the incidents in Beirut and Baghdad that happened on the same day which are equally saddening.â€
The College spent the weekend contacting staff and students in Paris and reiterated their condolences in an email sent by the principal this morning.
Photo taken by Miguel Rodriguez
King’s chaplains Tim Ditchfield and Abdul Choudhry were also on hand to offer students use of the college’s chapel.
“The solution to hate is peace and tolerance†said Abdul. “The minute of silence was significant because it meant that as a people we are standing strong in holding the victims in our thoughts, and showing support for them.â€
Photo taken by Miguel Rodriguez
The last few days have seen an outpouring of solidarity for Parisians across the capital. From flowers laid in front of the French Embassy to thousands attending the vigil last Saturday in Trafalgar Square.
France continues to be a in a state of emergency and is still in pursuit of the attackers.
