When the clock strikes noon on every third Thursday of the month, a number of students and faculty assemble to honor the victims of the war in Iraq. Yesterday was no exception.

At the somber ceremony, organized by the faculty, student and staff group WesPeace, people gathered between Davenport and PAC near a teardrop-like statue made by Sam Fleischner ’05. They dropped a number of beads, one for every estimated death, into the statue and also performed a hand-bell ceremony organized by Professor of Music Neely Bruce.

“It’s a very somber thing,” said Professor of Mathematics and ceremony organizer Carol Wood. “We do it to acknowledge the extent of the lives that were lost since the U.S. invaded Iraq.”

Each month, Wood checks the latest—usually more conservative—estimates of casualties, whether American, Iraqi, British, or so on, and buys a bead for every death. She has bought over 10,000 beads since the first of these rituals, held in May 2005.

“It’s not a joyous thing at all,” Wood said. “It’s a serious but beautiful thing.”

Though Univeristy students and faculty have, like the rest of the nation, staged die-ins and other anti-war statements such as protest, according to Wood, this is no imitation.

“This is a uniquely Wesleyan thing,” Wood said.

Organizers plan to continue holding the ceremony on a monthly basis.