FREE JILL
Students, faculty rally for safe return of UMass graduate
By Dan O'Brien, Collegian Staff
February 17, 2006
A crowd of over 100 people rallied on the University of Massachusetts campus yesterday in a show of support for kidnapped journalist and UMass graduate Jill Carroll, learning more about the woman whose now-familiar face has graced newspapers and televisions for more than five weeks.
"She has a passion for telling the story," said Karen List, a journalism professor at UMass, who first met Carroll when she was a student.
Carroll, who received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University in 1999, became a foreign correspondent not long after graduation. She worked for publications such as the Wall Street Journal, the Jordan Times and most recently, the Christian Science Monitor as a freelance reporter.
Before her graduation, Carroll was the news editor of the Massachusetts Daily Collegian from 1998 to 1999.
Carroll was kidnapped Jan. 5 by a group calling itself the Revenge Brigades. Since her abduction, her hostage takers have demanded the United States to release eight female Iraqi prisoners. The U.S. has since released five, but claims the women's release had nothing to do with the kidnappers' demands.
Last Saturday, a message to the media said Carroll would be killed if her abductors' demands were not met by this Saturday. The U.S. has reiterated that they will not negotiate with terrorists.
The rally, which was sponsored by the Collegian, focused less on the latest demands of Carroll's captors, and more on the hope that Jill will return home unharmed.
"The statistics show that far more of these situations have happy endings," said Matt Vautour, a friend of Carroll, former Collegian editor and current sports writer for the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
List spoke about the reporting Carroll was doing as a journalist up until the time she was kidnapped, which included writing a story about an Iraqi family's devastation following a car bombing.
That article, which was published by the Christian Science Monitor last April, explained how a 3-year-old girl still couldn't move her legs 17 months after the bombing destroyed her house, which she shared with 26 family members.
"Their story would not have been told had Jill not been there," List said.
Before stepping down from the podium, List asked the crowd to "hold her in your hearts."
Sylvia Langford, Special Assistant to the Vice Chancellor at UMass, referenced the late civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., saying "injustice everywhere is a threat to justice everywhere�
"The kidnapping of Carroll is a threat to that justice," she said. "[Carroll] has avoided propaganda and politics to show the inhumanity of war."
Mohammed Abdelaal represented the UMass Muslim Student Association when he said, "I am very proud of this girl� She [is] a just and fair reporter."
"I'm disappointed with Muslims who misrepresent our religion," Abdelaal said. "Islam is about love and peace."
He said Carroll is "an innocent person who � feels the catastrophes of the Iraqi people."
Some students said after the rally that they were pleased that a representative of Amherst's Muslim community spoke at the event.
"I think it was really important to have him there," said Raquel Prieto, a senior art history major at UMass. "What he said was concise. It reminded people not to stereotype the Muslim world."
Many students were unaware of the rally until they walked by and saw people gathered outside the Student Union early yesterday afternoon. Some even decided to watch and show their support.
"We want her to come home," said Lauren Rosenblum, a junior psychology and Spanish major.
"It's a horrible thing and it's important to support other alumni as a community," said Rachel Wasserman, a senior communications major.
"It's hard to understand how this could happen to someone like her, who was promoting free speech," said UMass Student Government Association President Pavel Payano. "I know everyone at UMass is praying for her safe return."
On the net: Carroll's article about the Iraqi car bombing in April 2005: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0415/p06s01-woiq.html
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Copyright Daniel O'Brien and the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. This may not be redistributed without written permission under United States law.