Students and community members gathered at Beaumont Tower to once again remember a member of the Spartan community while condemning the university for what they say is little to no acknowledgment of his death.

Before the ceremony, students spray-painted a banner that read "Remember Tariq Thabet," with a Palestinian flag. They also wrote messages reflecting on Thabet's life and legacy.

Social relations and policy senior Ateeyah Abdul-Wasi, a member of the Hurriya Coalition, said they felt sadness for the night's event. 

"I think we don’t have a lot of time to grieve, and being in the community is the biggest thing we can do right now," Abdul-Wasi said. "Here, (Thabet) did so much amazing work. He was a scholar, he still lives through his work, but we lost him and our university won’t even address that."

The MSU Humphrey Fellowship Program posted a statement commemorating Thabet shortly after his death. MSU administration has not released a related statement on its university-wide site. 

Members of MSU's administration and Board of Trustees attended a remembrance ceremony for Thabet last year, including former Interim President Teresa Woodruff.

Abdul-Wasi took issue with President Kevin Guskiewicz's absence at the one-year event.

"I think we’re continually moving in the wrong direction, and the fact that we not only pay a humanitarian toll but a communal toll through the loss of our own people and nobody can show up," Abdul-Wasi said.

The only university administrator attending the ceremony was Allyn Shaw, assistant vice president of Student Life and Engagement.

Abdul-Wasi called the university’s lack of acknowledgment of Thabet's death "utterly frustrating."

"We’re sad but we’re also angry, and the fact that our people from our own community, our own Spartan community, died — at least 15 members of his family were killed by a bomb — and not even an acknowledgment," Abdul-Wasi said.

During public speaking, Thasin Sardar, who serves on the board of the Islamic Society of Greater Lansing, said Thabet was a "very vibrant" Humphrey Fellow. 

"He was very keen on learning things from here and carried forward with his skills when he went back to Gaza," Sardar said. "It’s unfortunate that his life was cut short. When Tariq was killed, we were in disbelief and we hoped that he would be the last scholar to be killed in that fashion. Unfortunately, there were many Tariq Thabets who’ve been killed by Israel."

Sardar continued, "What gives me comfort is the fact that Tariq is now in a better place."

Human biology and psychology junior Aesha Zakaria said her father met Thabet at the Islamic Center of East Lansing. 

When speaking to the crowd, Zakaria translated a message Thabet sent to her father after the events of Oct. 7, 2023. This was the final message her father received from Thabet before he died, she said. 

"He was an honest man whose smile never left his face, and one of his biggest goals was securing safety for his family," Zakaria said.  

Her father tried to help Thabet bring his wife and children to the United States. Zakaria said Thabet secured visa interviews in Jordan, but Israel refused to allow his family entrance. In the end, Thabet chose to return home.

Zakaria said she was honored to be at the event and share Thabet's last words to her father.

"Today, I felt like a soldier," Zakaria said. "Today I got up and I was able to come here on campus, and I was able to attend this event for the sake of Tariq."

Zakaria also criticized MSU's lean toward "neutrality."

"The Board has spoken numerous times about their stance of neutrality, but if you release a statement and you only acknowledge the pain of one group of people without the other, that is not neutral at all," Zakaria said. "It shouldn’t be a political topic to address the death of a Spartan."

MSU released a statement in October 2023 condemning "the recent acts of violence" and sharing concern regarding the "staggering loss of life in Israel and Gaza." In the year since, MSU has not released statements on the issue. Administration has also requested that departments remove their posted statements regarding the war.  

Zakaria said she thinks about Thabet every time she walks around campus.

"I always like the Erickson Hall Kiva, something around that area always calls out his name to me," Zakaria said. "It really does feel like the campus is calling out to him and he is in our thoughts. His name is around and it will stay around despite the administrators’ refusal to say it."

After hearing from speakers, attendees held a silent prayer and moment of silence for Thabet and his family. 

Attendee Zaaki Mandwee, a pre-med senior, said the university doesn’t acknowledge Arab, Muslim and Palestinian students.

"This is a certain demographic of the university that they pretend doesn’t exist," Mandwee said. "This issue is not going to go away. Tariq is not just one person, he’s an entire struggle. He represents a much larger group of people."

Mandwee said the Arab community at MSU is "very tight-knit," so even if someone doesn’t know anyone who has died in the war, someone else in the community does. 

"We are all connected," Mandwee said. "We’re all one unified people and the death of one, whether it’s a Lebanese Arab or Palestinian Arab, is the death of somebody from our family, is the death of somebody from the broader existence of us as a community."