This afternoon, representatives from various student clubs and organizations, as well as members of the student body in general, gathered in front of the Science building for a unity rally and march. About 20 students participated in the event.. This event was held in response to the Patriot Prayer activities in Ellensburg this past weekend. While originally scheduled for last Saturday, the rally was moved to today due to a threatening phone call the group received.

According to freshman and co-organizer of the event Alex Amezcua, there was concern that a counter-protest in downtown might spark violence if held at the same time as the Patriot Prayer march. She said the safety of the marchers took priority over the timeliness of the message, and that violence and confrontation were never the goal of the unity rally. Rather, it was meant to show that the group stood with everybody, even those who might feel like they had no voice.

“There’s people behind them 100 percent,” Amezcua said.

The unity rally walked around campus with upbeat music playing on a speaker, chanting and waving signs. Amezcua said this was deliberate, as their message was a simpler one than Patriot Prayer’s.

“We’re not here to yell at people’s faces,” Amezcua said. “We’re not here to educate anybody, we’re just here to show people that we’re here no matter what.”

Three candidates for ASCWU President showed up to join the march as well, including sophomore political science major Dominic Choi. Choi said that the march was also intended as a way to show the world that CWU would not be receptive to a message of hate or violence.

“This is us saying ‘we’re not going to stand for these hateful groups coming here or silently sit by and pretend that’s okay,’” Choi said.