Tragedy struck in Mexico Sept. 26, 2014, when in Iguala, 43 students from Ayotzinapa Rural Normal School went missing. State and federal police officers along with armed, masked men pulled over five buses from the college. This tragedy sparked a response from Mexicans everywhere as they searched for the missing and protested against the government.
Ayotzinapa Rural Normal School trains future teachers in Mexico. There are several schools like this throughout Mexico known as rural teachers’ schools.
Stephen Lee, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, said: “What they aspired to do in their education at these rural teachers’ schools was to find some way to move beyond being peasant farmers or being caught up in a drug cartel. Those were really their two choices. So, to choose to be a teacher was a noble path.”
As part of their curriculum, the schools were known to promote radical ideas and participate in political protests; so they would commandeer buses for either training or attending the protests. On the day of the tragedy, the students seized the five buses to attend a protest in Mexico City. This protest was in commemoration of a time when Mexican soldiers had killed hundreds of students at a student protest. They were on their way there when they were pulled over in Iguala, Guerrero.
Two of the buses were fired at resulting in over 40 students shot and six killed; one bus was pulled over and the occupants set free, while the remaining two held the 43 students. The 43 students were taken and to this day, nobody knows definitively what happened to them. Three bodies were found buried in various locations. The remaining 40 have yet to be discovered.
The College of Humanities and Social Science has held an annual event organized by Lee in remembrance of this tragedy since 2020. The 43 students have been commemorated in various art forms around campus
“It’s a call to see the fate of those students as not disconnected at all from students here. The difference is the fact that they were born on one side of a lick of water,” Lee said.
Lee was born on the Texas-Mexico border. The lesson he learned early in life inspired him to bring the message to other students. He said the missing students are students just like the ones here. They were college students ages 18-33 trying to get an education. The difference is being born into a different area.
“That issue of relative prosperity versus poverty is probably one of the most profound lessons that I learned. I was lucky to live on one side of that lick of water,” Lee said.
There is a silhouette art display in the Holland Centennial Commons created by Lee back in 2016. The art includes 43 figures with a small quote or description representing the people lost. In between the figures, there is information describing the event.
One of the figures is of Israel Jacinto Lugardo. His description reads: “Israel is 19 years old and from Atoyac. Israel’s brother, Ricardo, was on the phone with Israel during the police attack on Sept. 26, 2014. Israel could be heard yelling, ‘Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! We are not armed!’ His last words to his brother were, ‘We’re OK.'”
Evan Fulkerson, a sophomore mathematics major from Saratoga Springs, said, “The silhouettes show it wasn’t just 43 people, it was 43 human beings with their own lives and interests that were working to help better their community.”
There are also portraits of the 43 students on display in the Eccles Fine Arts Center. These portraits were created by Jan Nimmo. There is an individual portrait of each man. Each man is serious, there are no smiling portraits and Nimmo uses a lot of vibrant colors and flowers surrounding the men. The flowers and colors are unique to each one.
A music and dance film was screened at the Eccles called “XLIII: A Contemporary Requiem” Sept. 16. This film was created in 2016 as part of Santa Clara University’s remembrance project of the tragic event. It uses music composed by Andrés Solis and conducted by Scot Hanna-Weir. Sandra Milena Gómez choreographed the dance, and Lee produced the film, which can be found for free online.
The film was deeply symbolic, with one central dancer representing the 43 and three others representing the police, government and military. The music used inspiration from older composers such as Johann Bach and focused on individual notes rather than blending. The organ played different notes from what the singers sang, and each part sang conflicting notes.
Madeline Fennel, a freshman general studies major from Hurricane, said: “Since it’s contemporary, there’s a lot of emotion in the way they dance. It gave me goosebumps because of the music and everything happening at the same time.”
Lee and the rest of the collaborators on the film wanted to communicate the tragedy in a different way than the journalistic and historical perspectives.
“Artistic responses to events like this have a different kind of power. We are often met with an emotional response, some kind of deep-felt feeling that we come away from that performance with,” Hanna-Weir said.
The film required a lot of collaboration between the composer, choreographer, conductor, producer and students. It was completed in a short time frame and had many different people contributing.
“I think everyone who was a part of the collaboration was so committed to the essence of collaboration,” Hanna-Weir said. “We all saw the importance of the work we were doing and the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than ourselves as artists. That really encourages you to check the ego in a huge way.”
The art will be on display until Oct. 4 in the Eccles and the Holland buildings.
