The Elon University senior administration didn’t need to do a lot of things at the campus march and rally in support of #BlackLivesMatter on Friday, Sept. 23.
The administration could have easily distanced themselves from the event in fear of possible backlash from alumni. But they didn’t. And it’s important that we pause and comprehend what that means for us as Elon students.
They didn’t need to send an email the night before, commending the Black Student Union (BSU) for its efforts in organizing the event and highlighting the importance of
participating.
They didn’t need to encourage their staff — many of whom marched alongside students and community members — to cancel their meetings and plans to attend or send messages of support.
When he addressed the marchers, Steven House, provost and executive vice president, didn’t need to share a genuine, powerful speech or speak from the heart about his own personal reactions to the killing of black men across the nation at the hands of police.
He could have easily shared a cookie-cutter speech echoing diplomatic, careful and surface-level sentiments. But he didn’t.
Other members of the school leadership didn’t need to organize a panel discussion the Monday after the rally to spur dialogue around the shootings in Charlotte and Tulsa, Oklahoma. They didn’t need to ask the BSU to write their own questions for the panelists.
Be it through a faculty resolution against HB2, condemning its discriminatory regulations or a letter to The Times-News by President Lambert where he urged lawmakers to realize "North Carolina is better than this" — the school leadership has continuously made it a point to stand with students and community members to make strong, important political statements.
Without fear of possible judgement, the university has responded to discrimination among communities around the nation with fierce courage and tenacity.
As a private, liberal arts school in a relatively conservative area, it’s important that we stop and think about that for a second.
Without saying much at all, our campus rally and march spoke volumes. Stopping traffic — literally — as a unified campus signaled to our surrounding community the fierce support we have for black lives.But our march forward requires genuine, open conversations between and among students, faculty and administrative staff about race and privilege.It’s powerful and important that the community stood in solidarity during the campus march, but it’s even more critical for all of us to sit down and have real conversations.
We need to all be doing things that aren’t required of us. It’s through these above and beyond efforts that change actually happens and people actually listen.