Allies, UTM’s peace and equality advocacy student group, encourages UTM students and faculty to participate in and support tomorrow’s Day of Silence.

“We, along with nearly 4,000 other schools and colleges nation-wide, will be participating,” says, Morgan Greenhaw, the president of Allies.

The Day of Silence is observed to remember gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people who have been abused, bullied or killed because of their sexual orientations.

Members of Allies will begin observing the memorial at 8 a.m. by not speaking or vocalizing in any fashion until the campus clock chimes at 6 p.m.

“We will not speak in honor of those who have been killed in hate-related crimes. Because they are not able to speak, we will not speak in remembrance of them,” Greenhaw says.

After the 10 hour silence, a “Breaking of Silence” rally will be held in the Quad at Centennial Park in which briefly, whistles will be blown, and students will resume speaking. Immediately after breaking the silence, there will be a non-denominational invocation and a candle-light vigil to remember victims of hate crimes.

The Day of Silence will come to a close with UTM students and faculty members making reading poetry and other brief pieces of literature in commemoration of the day.

Allies members will also have materials on hand advocating against discriminating against people because of sexual orientation.

“We hope all UTM students, faculty and staff will observe the Day of Silence to stop the hate and end the silence,” Greenhaw says.

He also encourages the campus community to be respectful toward people participating in Day of Silence, as Greenhaw says keeping the silence will already be difficult for college students to do.

Nationally, the Day of Silence is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, and that organization anticipates 2006’s Day of Silence to be the largest to date. This year marks the 10th Day of Silence.

“The tremendous numbers of students who take part in the Day of Silence is cause for celebration and a loud message from America’s students that we must work harder to ensure safe and effective schools for every child, says GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings.