Rally to support Ukraine held on the Quad

Around 30 people gathered on the Quad at Utah State University for a rally to support Ukraine on Thursday afternoon. 

Jack Greene, the organizer of the rally, said he planned the event to give people the opportunity to share their voices and express their frustrations.

“What’s going on there, you know, just touches my heart and soul, as it does all of us who are paying attention and seeing the potential for this to get much bigger,” Greene said.

Bailey Rigby

Event organizer Jack Greene led the rally on March 3.

Mollie Murphy, an assistant professor of communication at USU who helped organize the rally, said the event is just part of a larger outpouring of support for Ukraine.

“Even though these sort of events tend to be smaller than something in Salt Lake City or Washington, D.C., I think in some ways, for me, they’re more important because they get me networked with people who are already in my community,” Murphy said. “I’m networked with people who care about the same things, and we can get more change done together.”

The rally opened with the playing of the Ukrainian national anthem. After some words from Murphy and Greene, there was an open mic for attendees to share their thoughts.

Cache County Executive David Zook took to the mic and said he knows it can be frustrating to people in Cache Valley who want to do something to help. He encouraged those who want to help to donate to charities that support refugees.

“We’ve had refugees from other conflicts come here, and we welcome them with open arms, and we’ll do that again, if the need comes,” Zook said. “We have great people here who will be happy to do that.”

After about 30 minutes, the crowd left campus to march to the Cache County Courthouse.

Greene provided small Ukrainian flags and signs with the Ukrainian colors for attendees to carry as they marched to the courthouse. There was also a sheet of butcher paper for people to write “a love note to Ukraine,” which Greene plans to send to the country.

Bailey Rigby

Darcie Murphy writes on a Ukrainian flag sign at a rally in support of Ukraine on March 3.

Averie Vowles, a sophomore at USU, had not heard about the event before walking past the rally on the Quad. She decided to stop and join because of her personal connection to the country. Vowles lived in Ukraine in 2020, teaching English.

“I have literal personal connections with people who are being directly affected,” Vowles said. “When it first started happening, I got back in contact with everyone I knew there.”

Vowles said most of the people she knew from Ukraine, including her host families, were able to get out of the country, but that’s not the situation for everyone. 

“I also have pictures of past students I had, and I follow their parents on Facebook, and they’re posting pictures of them literally sleeping in metros,” Vowles said. “It’s kids who I spent every single day with, so it’s definitely very hard to see. I want to do anything I can to support.”

Jayda Maw, a senior at USU, also participated in the rally. She said it feels good to do something physical in support.

“It feels like you can’t really do anything. It’s so out of your hands,” Maw said. “It’s such an abstract concept, so to be able to actually do something is a really cool opportunity.”