The Intercultural Student Engagement Center hosted a balloon release in memory of Breonna Taylor Thursday night at Centennial Mall.

Participants came to celebrate the life of Breonna Taylor and the impact of women altogether. The event comes in the days before the one-year anniversary of Taylor’s death on March 13, 2020.

Robin Lester, a graduate intern and assistant program coordinator for ISEC, said the event offers hope to people still scared and hurt by the incident.

”I want people to attend the event to remember that there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” Lester said. “No matter what background you come from, we are all together and we are all equal.”

Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by the Louisville Police Department. The club wanted to have this event to show the history of how far women have come in society and how far they can truly go, Lester said. 

Before the balloons were released, junior Iyana Mckoy sang “Missing You” by the artist Brandy. Mckoy’s motivation for singing at the event was to let people know she wants to be a part of the movement for women rights and police brutality against people of all colors, said Mckoy. 

McKoy said Breonna’s death showed you don’t have to be a threat to anybody to lose your life.

Freshman Ebony Dunn said the legacy of Breonna Taylor should be known nationwide and important to women and little girls all over the world.

“I came to the event because that night Breonna was killed, I was sleeping in my bed, it could have been any of us,” Dunn said. 

Dunn believes ISEC was successful in hosting this event because of the renewed attention of her death with the upcoming anniversary.

“People can forget a lot in a year, so it was very nice of ISEC to celebrate her legacy,” Dunn said.

Joseph Thompson can be reached at [email protected].