“We wanted to honor their legacy, and the only way we could think of doing it was through service, because that’s what they would have done,” said Omar AbdelBaky, a close friend of Barakat and the current student body president of the dentistry school.
To commemorate the lives of Barakat and Abu-Salha, the student body has implemented a new holiday: Deah Day, an acronym for “Directing Efforts and Honoring Deah and Yusor.”
All classes and clinics at the school were closed Thursday for the observance. AbdelBaky said a group of student leaders and Deah’s friends developed the idea to honor their friend.
Most of the planning for the day occurred over the summer — although the students officially pitched the idea in March — and the administration offered full support.
“They welcomed the idea with open arms,” said Kaushal Gandhi, a third-year dental student. “They gave us everything we needed — all the resources we needed, any support and any help we needed.”
The Spurgeon Society, the student government of the dental school, along with ENNEAD, the community service program, worked together to coordinate the event.
Students were placed into groups designed to help different areas within the community. Student site leaders directed volunteers to specific sites throughout Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham and Raleigh.
Twenty-two teams, comprising more than 350 student volunteers, worked on various projects.
