In response to the recent bombing of an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Ala., Iowa State’s Committee Against Violence displayed “Keeping the Memory Alive: A Visual Vigil to Remember Victims of Violence” in front of Parks Library Tuesday.

The vigil was the brainchild of committee members Jeanne Higgs, sophomore in English, and Julie Wooden, graduate in interdisciplinary graduate studies.

Committee adviser Judy Dolphin, also the executive director of ISU’s YWCA, said the group has been heavily involved with issues promoting safety and women’s rights.

Six black mock tombstones were scattered across the lawn in front of the library, along with a display stand of news clippings about the Birmingham incident and statistics about violence against abortion clinics.

A message on the display board stated although the topic of abortion is controversial, violence against those supporting women who choose to get abortions must be stopped.

“While we understand there are two sides to the issues that surround clinic violence, we abhor violence and believe that it is not the solution,” the statement read.

The tombstones listed the names Dr. David Gunn, Shannon Lowney, Leanne Nichols, Dr. John Baynard Britton, Jim Barrett and Robert. D. Sanderson, all of whom were slain at abortion clinics.

Several dozen flowers were placed upon the snowy grass in front of the tombstones by passersby in memory of the victims.

“I was very touched to stand there and think about the people who have been harmed by this violence,” Dolphin said, calling the vigil a “spiritual experience.”

Dolphin said several people commented on how deeply the vigil touched them. A suggestion made by a former resident of Alabama and an ISU faculty member was that a photo be sent to the families of the victims, saying, “We Have Not Forgotten.”

The committee decided to pursue the idea, she said.

The statistics posted were collected by CARAL Factsheet on Clinic Violence. According to the statistics, there have been six murders and 13 attempted murders at abortion clinics since 1977.

In addition, abortion clinics have been the target of 43 bombings, 365 bomb threats, 109 arson cases, 72 attempted cases of bombings or arson, 279 death threats, two cases of kidnapping and 323 cases of stalking and harassing.

“The part of the statistics number that bothers me is of the high number of stalking and high number of threats against workers; [people] feel very threatened,” Dolphin said.

“Until this society finds other ways [to communicate] other than violence, I don’t see any great turnaround,” she said.