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If you haven't seen the video of Neda dying in the streets of Tehran, look it up.  Like many people, I first heard about her death via twitter, watched the video, wept a bit, and retweeted it to others. My first thought was (as, indeed many of my colleagues may testify) 'My God, she could be one of my students.' Today, I heard reports from NPR and now the NY Daily news that Neda was a Philosophy Student at Tehran University.

Neda Agha-Soltan, Iranian woman killed in Tehran protests, told friend 'it's just one bullet'

Neda Agha-Soltan, a beautiful 26-year-old philosophy student whose murder has made her a martyr to the Iranian opposition, was determined to support the protesters, friend and music teacher Hamid Panahi said.

I don't think it should matter to me if she studied Philosophy or Engineering or Cosmetology - the fact is that she was gunned down in cold blood by a authoritarian regime simply for demonstrating for equality. But somehow, knowing that she was a student of philosophy makes her seem even more like my students.

We all have to do what we can to assist the protesters and keep the memory of Neda alive. It's a little thing, but I'm adding her to the list of distinguished philosophy majors. Is there anything more we, in the US, can do?