Jan 15, 2020

In the Face of Tragedy, We Find Inspiration and Commitment

Students, Research, Education, Alumni, Faculty & Staff, Faculty & Staff, Partnerships, Inclusion & Diversity, Inclusion & Diversity
Acting Dean Salvatore Spadafora

Acting Dean Salvatore SpadaforaI welcome you to a new year knowing that our hearts are heavy with grief. Last week we lost two members of the U of T Medicine community in the crash of Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 outside of Tehran, Iran. In the days that have followed, we have learned of the remarkable people who were on that flight, including eight members of the University of Toronto community. As a result, we are left bereft.

While it is important to mourn the loss of those who died, we must also remember and celebrate their lives. Mohammad Asadi Lari, known to his friends as “Mo,” was an MD/PhD student. He died alongside his sister Zeynab, a student at the University of Toronto Mississauga who showed as much promise as her brother, and who also wanted to be a doctor. Dr. Mohammad Amin Jebelli, who went by Amin, was a student in the Translational Research Program in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology.

I didn’t have the chance to know these remarkable students, but in the course of the last few days, I feel like I have come to know them. Both Mohammad and Amin were known for their humility and their desire to put others before themselves. Mohammad, as one classmate said, was the best promoter of everyone else. You’d never hear him say much about himself, but he’d be quick to mention the accomplishments of others. Faculty and classmates of Amin said he was the smartest person in any room, but instead of proving that fact, he instead asked gentle questions that ensured others shone. He was also the last to leave any event, and only after washing every dish and ensuring every chair had been put away.

They also shared an innate curiosity. Amin, an Iranian-trained physician, decided to study in the Translational Research Program because he was hungry for knowledge and interested in finding new ways to help patients. Mohammad was so curious that many of his fellow classmates (and a few faculty members) were concerned that he might not settle on a single research project to undertake as part of his MD/PhD.

In times like this, we may ask ourselves: why do bad things happen to good people? I struggled with that question until I heard Imam Yasin Dwyer, a Muslim Chaplain who supports the University of Toronto community, address it. We might want to know, “Why does it happen?” But the question we should ask, he suggested, is “How will we respond?” While we cannot change what has taken place, we can decide what we will do in the face of this tragedy.

First, we will grieve, and we will support each other in our grief. Second, we will find ways to honour the legacy of Amin and Mohammad. In the days and weeks to come, we will consult with their family and friends to find appropriate steps to ensure they are not forgotten. The University of Toronto has also established the Iranian Student Memorial Scholarship Fund, in memory of those members of the U of T community lost in this tragedy. This fund will provide needs-based scholarships to international undergraduate or graduate students from Iran or students from any background undertaking Iranian studies at U of T.

We will move forward as a community, inspired by the example of those we have lost, and committed to celebrating their legacy.

Salvatore Spadafora
Acting Dean, Faculty of Medicine
University of Toronto