photo by: Nick Krug

The Memorial Campanile on the campus of the University of Kansas, pictured on Wednesday, July 22, 2015.

The University of Kansas will hold a late-night vigil Wednesday to pay tribute to George Floyd and the countless other black lives lost to racism and police brutality, KU Chancellor Douglas Girod said Tuesday.

Protests and demonstrations continue around the globe in response to Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minnesota police officer, as well as the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, a Georgia man killed while jogging, and Breonna Taylor, a Kentucky woman killed by police during a raid of her home.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, KU’s vigil will take place virtually and be streamed on the university’s YouTube page. It is scheduled to begin at 9:15 p.m. It will include a meditation from Darren Canady, a KU associate professor of English and playwright, as well as an 8-minute, 46-second moment of silence to honor George Floyd.

The time symbolizes how long the Minneapolis officer, who has since been charged with second-degree murder, held his knee on the back of Floyd’s neck during a May 25 arrest for allegedly attempting to pay a convenience store bill with a counterfeit $20 bill.

“The tragic deaths of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others have generated worldwide protests and essential reexaminations of systemic racism,” Girod said in a written campus message. “This vigil will be not just a moment to honor their lives, but a call for the KU community to broadly affirm black lives and acknowledge and take action against such heinous injustice.”