Members of the NIU community shared messages for confronting and dealing with hate during the Stop The Hate Candlelight Vigil Monday night.

“We are not only here to say no to hate, but to the violence that comes with it,” said the Rev. Wendy Witt, director of the Center for United Campus Ministries.

More than 70 NIU students, staff, faculty and other community members gathered at the UCM to participate in the vigil organized by Rachel Turner, SA director of Cultural Affairs.

“There is no one person in this world that doesn’t deserve the same rights that we all receive,” said Jeremy Mulnix, publicity chair for PRISM and a Student Association senator.

Vigil attendees expressed their desire to encourage the end of hate and the violence that accompanies it.

“We should embrace each other’s differences, and be at peace with ourselves” Student Trustee Jesse Perez said.

The vigil also included singing by the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Choir, a candle lighting ceremony where names of those affected by hate were called out, a signing by participants of the “Stop the Hate Commitment Card,” and a candlelight walk to close the vigil.