Thursday, March 24^th at 10:50 am, members of the Buena Vista University community gathered by the Liberty Bell in peaceful protest to support Ukraine. As of today, it was one month ago Russia invaded the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked that the American populous take a few minutes to walk out onto their streets to show support for the Ukrainian people.

His plea was heard by those in Storm Lake, Iowa. Marian Riner, Assistant Professor of Social Work explains why she chose to participate,

“Part of one of the social work values is social justice. A lot of things are happening over in Ukraine that we need to be aware of, advocating for, and supporting- I think a peaceful protest is a great way to bring awareness and show solidarity for individuals in Ukraine that are suffering and enduring such violent attacks.”

The protest was organized by the Dean of School of Liberal Arts and Professor of History Dixee Bartholomew-Feis, and Dr. Andrea Frantz, Professor of Digital Media. Frantz solidifies the importance of this demonstration,

“She [Bartholomew-Feis] and I have done a lot of talking about the invasion of Ukraine- We-re both horrified and want to be able to raise awareness about the needs, first of all, of the people in Ukraine, what’s going on there, but also we’re interested in trying to raise awareness among Americans in terms of offering our support however we can,” Frantz went on to say, “This war is unjust, it is immoral, and I think the only way that we begin to grapple with that as Americans is if we talk about it,”

Other participants included a group of BV students. Among them was Brayden Bergum, a junior social work major.

“Today marks one month since, you know, Russia invaded Ukraine. It’s a big humanitarian crisis, the war there is unjust, and you know, any support counts. So, we’re just trying to show our solidarity with Ukraine,” Burgum said.

The peaceful protest was put together slightly last minute given President Zelenskyy’s call that was put out on Twitter was done so yesterday. Frantz concludes, “The turnout was good.”

Showing support for Ukraine in Iowa is statewide. Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division to remove Russian-produced alcoholic liquor products from the wholesale purchase list. While the city of Chariton, Iowa, sports Ukrainian blue and yellow ribbons on every light post and gazebo. Whilst those on the campus of BV showed their support by standing in solidarity with Ukraine on this momentous morning.