Light House Project illuminates Our Three Winners’ legacy

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PAGE 3 • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2019

Light House Project illuminates Our Three Winners’ legacy

Alicia Thomas

News Editor

After the tragic murders of Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha, Barakat’s wife, and her sister Razan Abu-Salha, their families chose to honor their lives by bringing the community together through The Light House Project.

The Light House Project was started by Farris Barakat, Deah’s brother, after his murder. Barakat said, that the project is based out of a house originally owned by Deah, who only owned two things at the time of his murder: a car and the house, which was being rented out. After his death, the property was inherited by Barakat’s mother and father.

“I started reflecting on the murders and I guess there was a lot to be done in terms of continuing to share their story as an educational moment for Americans and just the importance of this moment in our history,” Barakat said. “There was a lot of commitment from people on what they want to do [for them]. It was a matter of organizing that and doing something that is sustainable, doing something that will exist long term.”

Barakat began thinking of different things the space could be used for, such as a shelter for women, an office space or resource center. In the midst of renovations to get the property up to commercial code, Barakat’s mother shared an old message tweeted by Deah, that expressed his wishes for young people in the community. The tweet inspired Barakat to create The Light House Project and use the house as a place for young people to grow their ideas.

He also mentioned that the name of the center came from Barakat’s brother’s name ‘Deah’ which translates to ‘light’ from Arabic.

“The idea was to help them come up with a business plan and try to come up with how this works,” Barakat said. “We ended up on a model where we will essentially run an incubator program. An incubator program essentially [is] going to help foster the growth of non-profit programs related to youth, so it’s literally helping the youth with their projects, allowing them to use their own brand, their own marketing, they feel completely empowered and owning of their projects.”

The Light House Project and the incubator program support young individuals’ projects by offering them financial support and resources such as the office’s space and mailing address.

“It gives them a springboard to launch from and it’s a way to come together and organize with other projects working out of the house,” Barakat said.

Barakat expanded and said that at one point The Light House Project wanted to share the story of Deah, Yusor and Razan but that soon became part of the mission of the Our Three Winners Foundation, another project started by the family to prevent hate violence from occurring by tackling implicit biases.

Barakat described the main goal of The Light House Project as being focusing on community outreach in the Triangle area. Since 2012, the house’s purpose has been fully cemented toward fulfilling that goal, according to the organization’s website.

The Light House Project also runs additional programs to promote growth and entrepreneurship, such as the Interfaith Food Drive that occurs every year in February.

Shadi Sadi, a volunteer with The Light House Project and director of the Food Drive, talked about the progress made every year in terms of community engagement.

“The first year we did it donations had translated into 21,000 meals and then the last two years we have had over 50,000 meals donated,” Sadi said. “I think the grand total of the last four years was 166,000 meals, so we’ve definitely grown. I feel like more people learn about it and more people are signing up, it’s just growing beyond what we could imagine and it’s just touching so many people.”

Sadi said that the Food Drive is a way to unite people that have been affected by various tragedies by sharing their stories with one another.

“It’s important for people to find a common ground and see a common cause that we can all work towards,” Sadi said.

Barakat talked about the purpose of creating the Project, expressing how he believes that in order to live in a better world, the community must work for it.

“For me, it’s putting faith into action,” Barakat said. “We all talk about how we care for each other, we talk about [how] we want what’s best for each other, we talk about that stuff, but putting that stuff into action, once you do that then you know that’s genuine and that’s real and that grows and you’re more committed to that you’re more a person that cares about other people and is involved.”

Several religious communities from all around Raleigh have come together in support of the food drive, according to Sadi, including Christian churches, all of the synagogues in the Triangle and the Sikh community. Additionally, the NC State School of Design and for the first time, the UNC School of Dentistry, have joined the drive.

The impact of the deaths of Deah, Yusor and Razan have made the community selfreflect and take action to see true change, according to Sadi.

“This tragedy made us take a step back and say ‘What are we doing with our lives? We know we are supposed to be doing something, but are we doing it,’” Sadi said. “That’s why, for me, something like the food drive makes sense that we should be stopping everything and working towards these common goals that benefit society and really our religion kind of commands it.”

Anyone interested in participating in the Food Drive can donate online or at the Islamic Center of Raleigh until March 2, 2019.

COURTESY OF THE LIGHT HOUSE PROJECT The Light House Project is an initiative started to honor Deah Barakat, Yusor AbuSalha and Razan Abu-Salha. The project recently converted a downtown Raleigh house into an office and community resource.

Law against gender-inclusive housing creates concern in campus community

Amber Detwiler

housing is a main topic of concern to be addressed by the Association of Student Governments (ASG) within the UNC System.

UNC System Policy 700.8.1, effective in summer 2013 after a unanimous vote by the Board of Governors, states that its institutions cannot assign members of the opposite sex to the same dorm, suite or campus-owned apartment, thereby creating uncomfortable and unsafe living situations for members of

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PAGE 4 • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2019

15,000 untested rape kits discovered, to be eliminated in North Carolina

Lauren Greene

Correspondent

The state of North Carolina backlogged over 15,000 sexual assault kits, resulting in decades-old cases left unresolved. The state launched a $10 million solution hoping to eliminate this backlog.

Attorney General Josh Stein plans to set legislation into motion called the Survivor Act, which will require the state crime lab no more than 45 days to test new rape kits and previously untested ones, according to The News & Observer. Each rape kit contains forensic evidence and medical information that could resolve cases, if tested. According to Stein, a primary reason why these kits have not been tested since they have been found is because each one costs approximately $700 to test. The N.C. government would need a substantial amount of funds to test the old kits in order to eliminate the backlog.

The legislation is funded by $4 million

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the transgender community.

Jess Errico, student body president and fifth-year studying mechanical and aerospace engineering, outlined the policy and shared the impact that the legislation has on students.

“There is a Board of Governors-level policy that prevents students from sharing housing with members of the opposite sex, as identified by their legal gender marker,” Errico said. “That prevents students from sharing housing if how they identify is different from what might be present on their birth certificate or what they are identified as legally. This came to the Board of Governors’ attention because UNC-Chapel Hill’s trustees supported gender-inclusive housing.”

Errico said that this law applies to all UNC System schools and supersedes any university-level policies, making it harder for University Housing and the GLBT Center to offer adequate living arrangements to students.

Andy DeRoin, program coordinator for the GLBT Center, said that transgender students should contact either University Housing or the GLBT Center to request additional housing accommodations.

“One of both of those offices work with the student to talk through the housing options that are available, because we do have a pretty wide range of room setups and accommodations,” DeRoin said. “We try to help students communicate with University Housing the importance of finding an LGBT-affirming roommate, if that is a concern. Our office is also able to do some behind-the-scenes roommate matching.”

While DeRoin said that although fewer than 10 students have reached out for housing accommodations so far, the process is ongoing due to the need for new housing accommodations each academic year. DeRoin stated that the take on gender-inclusive housing has not changed much after the Board of Governors passed policy 700.8.1 in 2013.

“My understanding is that the options

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weren’t really any different from what they are now,” DeRoin said. “The way that software was set up in how housing is assigned, it didn’t really allow for it. It’s not like anyone said we couldn’t. For NC State, it didn’t change a ton, but now there is something officially on the books saying you can’t do this.”

Errico said that she has been working with the ASG to advocate for gender-inclusive housing in the UNC System and on NC State’s campus. She said that this issue will also be a primary focus of the ASG Advocacy Day in Raleigh, where student government leaders meet with lawmakers and representatives to discuss topics of concern.

“I know there has been desire for this to change both here on campus here at NC State and also at the system level from students,” Errico said. “Each of our 17 institutions are all sending delegates to [the ASG], and we passed unanimously an act to support moving towards gender-inclusive housing in the UNC System.”

Errico and DeRoin said that they are hopeful that the policy on gender-inclusive housing will change at some point in the near future.

“For students that are coming to campus, the earlier they get in touch with either the GLBT Center or University Housing, the easier it is to really work with them to find the most comfortable and affirming place that they can live,” DeRoin said.

If students have questions or concerns about their housing options and needs, they can reach out to the GLBT Center and University Housing for assistance. Students can share concern on this issue by reaching out to Student Government.

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NC State professor elected to national scientific society

Staff Report

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE), an extremely influential scientific society of engineers, has just elected their 18th member who is a professor at NC State.

Rodolphe Barrangou, Todd R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Scholar in probiotics research and professor of food, bioprocessing and nutrition sciences, is among 86 new members and 18 foreign members to be accepted to the NAE this year. He joined NC State faculty in 2013 and has received numerous accolades in his time at the university.

A specialist in beneficial bacteria in foods, Barrangou has done pioneering research on CRISPR technology, which is a tool for editing genomes.

CRISPR has potential for editing DNA sequences and modifying genetic functions, with possible uses in treating genetic diseases and engineering foods.

Barrangou has shown that CRISPR systems can defend against bacterial attackers, and is currently editor-in-chief of The CRISPR Journal, a scientific publication focused on the technology and its uses. Barrangou has also been involved with writing over 150 peer-reviewed publications.

NAE has over 2,000 members and seeks to honor those that make significant contributions to engineering literature or research in new fields of technology.

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already available in grants and asks for another $6 million, which will primarily be used to test the kits that have the most potential in solving open cases, according to The News & Observer. Stein also asked the state legislators to mandate the use of a statewide tracking system that will make sure incoming rape kits do not suffer the same fate as the neglected ones.

Although these victims are at the mercy of the state to solve their unclosed cases, Brace Boone III, director of the Women’s Center, and Marc Grimmett, co-director and founder of Community Counseling, Education, and Research Center (CCERC), discussed how the community offers support for people who have been sexually assaulted.

The Women’s Center is located on Cox Avenue in Raleigh, and provides a wide variety of services to women, such as primary care, food, clothing, hygiene items, etc. It partners with CCERC to provide mental health for those who experienced any type of trauma.

Boone explained that the majority of people who seek services at the Women’s Center have experienced some form of sexual assault.

“Over 90 percent of the women we serve have been sexually assaulted or raped sometime during their life,” Boone said. “We deal with a lot of brain health, a lot of mental health issues and a lot of trauma. It is a very complex knot that we are trying to unravel.”

Boone also mentioned that it is not unheard-of for states to neglect rape kits, stating that letting information fall through can have incredibly negative effects on survivors.

“The women presented here have fallen between the cracks and are not being served adequately or sufficiently,” Boone said. “Violence and traumatic experience is a major contributing factor to women becoming homeless. These experiences in their lives can have devastating consequences.”

Grimmett stated that the CCERC is beneficial because it offers services to survivors while training master’s and doctorate students in the clinical mental health counseling program at NC State. At CCERC, Grimmett said they approach every situation with caution.

“We approach our work with everyone as if they have experienced some type of trauma whether we know it or not,” Grimmett said. “That way, we might be in an appropriate fit for some women who are served by the Women’s Center, as well.”

Individuals who experience trauma like sexual assault can often be hesitant to seek help for various reasons, according to Grimmett.

“When the person who discloses does not receive a validating or affirming response, they are very unlikely to tell someone else, so the trauma is left untreated,” Grimmett said. “They are not going to receive the help they need because they do not want to be hurt again.”

Grimmett also said that 90 percent of sexual violence perpetrators are males, and that his personal mission is to educate men and stop rape culture. He added that the best support a victim can receive is a friend or family member who believes them and is willing to support how they may choose to proceed with their situation.

“You, their friend, or a family member or coworker might be the bridge

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