Jackson Free Press

Lamees El-sadek felt compelled to take action last February when a man shot and killed a Chapel Hill, N.C., family of three Muslims—Deah Barakat, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and Razan Mohammed Abu-Salha—reportedly over a parking dispute. "Hearing about what happened at Chapel Hill gave me a sickening feeling," El-sadek says.

She is a friend of Suzanne Barakat, Deah Barakat's older sister. The siblings and their brother, Farris Barakat, are known in the American Muslim community for their activism. El-sadek says they have been fighting for a long time for equality in America.

El-sadek, 25, graduated from Millsaps College in 2011 with dual bachelor's degrees, one in biology and a second in international health and economics. She earned a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University in 2013. Today, El-sadek works as an epidemiologist and evaluator for the Mississippi Department of Health.

She and fellow Muslim Millsaps alumnus Uzair Ali and senior Muzamil Khawaja reached out to Millsaps chaplain Christopher Donald to help organize an interfaith prayer for peace on the college campus. More than 120 people of all races, religions and ages attended the ceremony Feb. 21, which also dealt with recent issues in race relations.

"All the recent hate crimes based on religion that have been in the news, both in this country and internationally, made me see the need to host such an event," El-sadek says.

Another factor that compelled El-sadek to organize the interfaith prayer was Duke University's decision to cancel Muslim calls to prayer. Initially, Duke planned the prayers as a response to massive anti-Muslim sentiment following the Jan. 7 shooting at French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo. The school administration saw the calls to prayer as a way to reach the Muslim community and show that everyone was welcome at Duke. Instead, the university and its Muslim students received threats, and the administration reversed its decision within 24 hours of its announcement.

"I'm Muslim, and I'm American, and I feel very connected to this," El-sadek says. "Anyone who is a human being in America and believes in our founding fathers should believe that all men and women are equal, (and) have rights and a responsibility to protect those rights for all Americans without exception. ... Activism is the best response to fighting the empty feelings that come from the hatred shown by the attack at Chapel Hill and the outcry against religious equality at Duke University."

El-sadek says that Millsaps has been a supporter of interfaith work for a long time, but before planning the event, she hadn't met Donald. "It meant a lot to see a Christian man at a Christian facility organize such an event on behalf of the Muslim community," El-sadek says.

Clarification: In the first paragraph, it is listed that the Chapel Hill murders reportedly happened over a parking dispute. This is what defendant Craig Smith and his attorney allege. The victims families allege that the act was a hate crime. Also, in the second paragraph, it was listed that "the sisters and their brother" are known for their activism. The wording has been changed to clarify that we were referring to the Barakat family here.