Remembering Aysenur Ezgi Eygi: Former Central student killed in the West Bank

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was a gift to our community, not only here in Seattle and at the University of Washington but also at Seattle Central College, where she attended before transferring to UW and majoring in Psychology. After graduating earlier this year, Eygi traveled to the West Bank to pursue activism work with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). She was attending a protest against the Israeli occupation when she was shot and killed by an Israel Defense Forces sniper.

Her friends and professors here at Central remember her as a positive and uplifting presence in the classroom, always passionate about helping people.

Dr. Peter Knutson, a professor of Anthropology at Central, remembers Eygi fondly as a student in his Anarchy in Anthropology class in 2020. Knutson noted the brilliance of her papers, “clearly having a real sympathy for the underdogs in the world,” as he put it. 

Eygi’s early papers on anthropology give us an idea of how passionate she was about understanding other cultures, as reflected in an excerpt from one of her essays in Knutson’s class:

“There’s value in observing the uniqueness and commonalities of cultures across the globe because it becomes apparent through the study of human cultures that we are more similar than we are different, and diving into this study while creating a (practically) undebatable science and research-driven foundation creates a strong basis and point of reference for humanity moving forward.” 

Knutson also recalls how empathetic Eygi was towards her fellow community college students, stemming from her own challenges growing up poor in the United States. “She was like a lot of  Seattle Central students; she not only had to go to school but also started working full-time when she was fifteen. So she had a lot of sympathy for community college students like herself, who don’t have their education handed to them on a silver platter.” Eygi shared with Knutson that one of her goals was to become a licensed counseling psychologist and open a wellness center to offer resources and healing to first-generation immigrant families:

“I recognize how desperately immigrant families, first-gen families, and American Muslims need holistic counseling. It is my goal to one day open a wellness center to offer holistic resources and healing to vulnerable communities”

Dr. Kaitlin Mcclanahan, an English professor at Central who taught Eygi in English 101 and 102, remembered her positive role in the class environment. “She was just a very welcoming personality in the classroom, and students felt comfortable around her,” said Mcclanahan, remarking that Eigy’s attitude allowed for more student-led community building in her class. 

Eygi’s community building extended to Mcclanahan as well, “A lot of times as a teacher, you’re treated as an authoritarian figure, but she did really talk to me like I was a person,  which was really fun.” At the time, Mcclanahan brought her 5-month-old daughter to class whenever childcare fell through. Eygi, along with another student who was a mother, took care of Mcclanahan’s daughter while she taught the class. “She would send me emails just to ask for an updated picture of my daughter. She wanted to know how she was growing. And so she was just so personable and lovely,” completed the professor. 

A memorial bonfire was held for Eygi on Sept. 11, 2024. Her body was transported to Turkey, where she was buried three days later.