Thursday, hundreds of people fanned out across the Triangle area. Their destinations ranged: Ronald McDonald House, local schools, senior centers, Habitat for Humanity sites; Animal Protective Services; creek cleanups and Veterans Administration clinics among them. The goal of these 350-plus students of the University of North Carolina’s School of Dentistry was to honor a legacy of community service left by classmate Deah Barakat, his wife, Yusor Abu-Salha, and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha, who were murdered in February.

One of those students was third-year School of Dentistry class president Chris Walker, a 2004 Washington High School graduate and former WHS English/journalism teacher. Barakat was a classmate of Walker’s, one who made an impression through his dedication to the community outside of dental school.

“I thought the world of him because I knew how much he did in his free time. He was not the type of student who relaxed on Friday — he was (working) at a homeless shelter. To see somebody that young, helping others — I’m a little older — is inspiring; to see someone that young who has the ability to be a community leader and can give back, we thought, ‘Let’s get the whole school to do the same,’” Walker said.

Walker said when he and others offered school officials a plan of closing the School of Dentistry down for a day and sending its students out into the community to work for the community, the response was overwhelmingly positive.

“It didn’t really take any convincing. They said, ‘Yeah, get to work,’” Walker said.

Jane Weintraub, dean of the UNC School of Dentistry, said the same in a press release.

“When several students from the school approached us about the idea of honoring the memory of Deah and Yusor through volunteering at community service events, it seemed like such a natural way to join together to honor their lives of service,” Weintraub wrote. “They had such incredible hearts, often giving their weekends to help those less fortunate. We will conduct these events every year to honor their memories and continue their legacy of giving back to the community. I am very proud of our students for organizing and participating in this wonderful event.”

Organizers came up with an official name: DEAH DAY, an acronym for Directing

Efforts And Honoring Deah And Yusor. Like Walker, Deah was a third-year student; Yusor had been accepted to the School of Dentistry and would have started this fall; and Razan was a North Carolina State University student. The couple, who had been married only six weeks when they were killed, had planned to travel to Turkey last summer to provide dental care to Syrian refugees and, following their graduations from the UNC School of Dentistry, planned to open a dental practice together, according to the press release from Weintraub.

“It just impacted us so greatly,” Walker said. “But to be able to take that and not just continue to be sad and dwell on it as a tragedy, but honor their legacy, was really important. It’s something I hope young people around the world see as a way to do good,” Walker said.

DEAH DAY will be observed annually — the school will cancel all classes and clinics as a way to remember their fellow students’ lifestyle of giving back to those less fortunate.

This year’s event was a huge success, Walker said. Walker spent the morning with classmates, clearing debris from a Durham creek choked with kudzu — the creek a part of the Pamlico Sound watershed and a task that had a particular resonance for Walker. Others visited local second and third graders, teaching oral hygiene; still others served as drivers for Meals on Wheels. Deah’s father attended Thursday’s event, at which he expressed both gratitude and amazement that so many people participated, Walker said.

“This just was so powerful,” Walker said. “It out-shown those (negative) aspects of their story and having so many stories told yesterday and today about (students’) volunteer experiences, on social media and in the halls of school, was overwhelmingly positive and satisfying to a community that is still in many ways shaken up but what happened to them.”

While the event was a way to honor their classmates, Walker said it taps into an important aspect of their education, on that the School of Dentistry stresses in its curriculum — that of focusing on the community any dental professional serves.

“There are so many ways to be involved in the community outside of your dental chair work, (and it’s) probably a better response to the needs in your community than just closing your door and being a successful dentist,” Walker said. “This was a different avenue for us to take, but it’s important in shaping us as community leaders.”

The goal for future years is to make DEAH DAY a nationwide event for all dentistry schools across the nation. Already, many had heard about Thursday’s event and contacted the UNC School of Dentistry and the student services organization about participating.

“I would love to see other schools embrace a similar approach: ‘Hey, let’s honor our community; let’s honor these UNC students,’ and do the same thing,” Walker said. “I want to see this happen next year on the news and support the endeavor as an alum(nus) of UNC School of Dentistry.”