Students and faculty gathered on the steps in front of Todd Hall last night for a candle-light vigil in remembrance of Hispanic lives lost in recent months.

Titled “Brown Lives Matter,” the event was not only for lives recently lost, but also in light of recent racial events at Washington State University.

“Going to the WakeUpWSU meeting, we wanted to make sure we talk about all underrepresented groups,” said Cristina Medina, a senior women’s studies major. Medina set up the event with a friend.

The vigil was held in particular for Antonio Zambrano-Montes, a Latino Pasco man that was shot  and killed by police in February; Jessie Hernandez, a 17-year-old and gay-identified Latina girl who was shot and killed by police in Denver; and Taja Gabrielle DeJesus, a transgendered Latina woman who was stabbed to death in San Francisco.

“(I’m) here to support a more narrow aspect of the consequences of a prejudice and biased system,” said Jessie Ubina, a senior criminal justice major.

Ubina said he believes prejudice is something all people suffer from.

Medina addressed the crowd before giving the floor to them.

“Every 28 hours a brown or black man is killed by law enforcement; we gotta come together and pay our respects,” she said. “With everything that’s been going on, we need to build alliances.”

She thanked all the students that were there and highlighted the fact that there were various races amongst the group.

“This isn’t just a Latino thing tonight,” Medina said.

Students walked on to the steps and spoke to the crowd about their experiences with race and gave words of encouragement.

Junior elementary education major Jenni Escobedo said the vigil was important to get the message out that brown lives matter.

“We’re here to give representation to our people,” she said. “We deserve fair representation and deserve to be treated like human beings, not animals.”

J. Manuel Acevedo, Director of Multicultural Student Services, was amongst the crowd and also spoke on the steps.

He said he wanted to encourage the students to not become tempted by the incidents which have occurred and give up on WSU and to help build and transform the community.

After students and faculty spoke to the small congregation of people, Medina asked that there be a moment of silence held for the lives lost in recent months.