Vigils

What's the purpose of a vigil?

Vigils are often held in response to times of grief or suffering, and draw attention to the topic you’re holding a vigil for. They might include speakers and a moment of silent reflection. Students have led on vigils at St Andrews in recent years for the following reasons:

• Israel & Gaza
• Iran
• Ukraine
• Sarah Everard memorial
• Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Practical requirements

To organise a vigil in partnership with the University, you should contact [email protected]. They will link in the relevant University departments (Communications, Events, Estates, Security + Response team, and possibly the Chaplaincy if the vigil will take place in St Salvator’s Quad or you would like a Chaplain to attend). They may get back to you to organise a meeting with you/your group to discuss the specifics of your event and what support you may require. Ideally you should get in touch with as much notice before the vigil as possible, however there is often flexibility for vigils in response to current events and developing situations.

Once your vigil has approval, Corp Comms will be able to assist you with promotion of the event (such as on the University Events pages, or through In the Loop), and with practical things like microphones and speakers.

You will need to complete a Union risk assessment if you are part of a Union student group (subcommittee or society). If in doubt as to whether you should submit a University or Union risk assessment, email [email protected] or the RBS contact you’ve been given and they can advise. If you have already submitted a Union General Risk Assessment but didn’t include the vigil, you can submit a Supplemental Risk Assessment. You must submit your completed risk assessment at least 2 weeks before your vigil, by emailing [email protected]. However, there is flexibility on this if you are organising a vigil in response to current events. If this is the case, explain this in your initial email, and if possible, go to the Union building at St Mary’s Place to speak to the Building Manager in person. If you anticipate your vigil may have more than 100 attendees, you will need to fill out a Union Major Events Checklist, and likewise submit it to [email protected].  

Promoting your vigil

When you promote it on socials, you could include links to support resources in the caption. If you want to promote the event through Union channels, you could request for it to be included in the Sabb all-student email. If you have an Instagram post, you can ask the Union to share the post to their stories.

Making your vigil effective

When planning the vigil, make sure you have a clear sense of the purpose/intention of the vigil (e.g. showing support, drawing attention to an issue, a call to action etc.) Ensure your message matches the message of your overall campaign.

You might choose to have speakers, whether they are students, staff, or others. If you are going to request an external speaker attend (not a student or member of staff), you should follow the University’s External Speakers Protocol. Having a clear intention and message will help ensure your speakers know what tone you are going for when planning what they are going to say. Depending on the issue you are holding a vigil on, you might consider having speakers from a variety of experiences/backgrounds/roles.

One other thing you might include is a moment of silent reflection to bring your vigil to a close before people disperse.

Staying safe

There are a number of things to consider ahead of your vigil to keep people safe:

• Weather considerations: consider postponing the vigil if serious weather warnings are issued for that day (check the Met Office). Remind attendees to dress appropriately for whatever weather is due that day.
• Emotional/psychological safety:
  • Depending on the nature of your vigil, you may wish to consider making use of content warnings in the space around the vigil (such as at entrances).
  • You could bring materials containing relevant support resources, or a QR code linking to them, or clearly mention available support resources in speeches.
  • At evening events, Security & Response can attend (if requested and available) to make sure there’s no interference or negative behaviour from people in the vicinity. They can also organise support from Student Services if anyone experiences distress during or immediately following the vigil.