The Council on Civic Engagement sponsored a paneled discussion, "Columbus, Tulsa, and Charlotte: What's Next?" in the McBride Gathering Space Monday evening.
The discussion is a part of Elon's initiative to bring discussion about race relations and progress to campus. Buffie Longmire-Avital, panel moderator and professor of psychology, said, "The goal of this particular panel was to really shed a light on how these national issues are permeating that Elon bubble."
In order to help shed the light on issues at Elon, the panel was composed of five academics from around the university and even from the United Kingdom.
The event began with each of the panelists sharing their thoughts on how Elon could bring racial discussion from small group conversation to the classroom. Damion Blake, assistant professor of political science and policy studies, said that in order to make progress in race relations, we first have to change the narrative about race in this country.
Throughout the night, students, faculty and Elon residents told their stories and asked the panel questions. One of the stories came from Elon senior Emanuel Obi. Obi described a night when he and his friends were hanging out around campus and eight police officers showed up at the scene. Obi said, "If I hadn't been the person talking to the police officer, things could have turned out very differently last night. I probably would not be standing here right now."
Associate Professor of Communications Anthony Hatcher responded to Obi's police interaction. "There is absolutely a double standard, and that's a really weak way of putting it." Hatcher said. "I wonder if four or five of our white students gathered at 1 a.m. would attract eight police officers?"
There were many more stories similar to Obi's from other audience members, and the event went over its scheduled 75 minutes. Panelists and many audience members remained in the McBride Gathering Space until all of the questions were heard.