LEANN BURKE / THE DEPAUW
Greencastle, Indiana and Ferguson, Missouri may be 215 miles apart from each other, but members of the DePauw community gathered Monday to prove that distance has no effect on their ability to empathize.
After the shooting of unarmed African American teenager Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, 2014, tensions have been high in the city. After a grand jury decided Wilson would not be indicted, riots and protests have increased in violence, culminating in the shooting of two police officers Thursday.
In response to this continued violence, around 15 of DePauw’s students, faculty and staff gathered around the circle on the academic quad to show solidarity for the ongoing struggles occurring in Ferguson. The event was unstructured, and consisted of those who attended standing around the brick circle in front of Roy O. West Library.
Since DePauw community members gathered back in August when Brown was killed, professor of history Glen Kuecker, informal organizer of the event, felt it would be “mistaken” not to put the call forth once more.
“I think with the shooting of the police that it would be terribly mistaken if we didn’t take a moment to acknowledge that the violence also has an impact on the police: they’re humans too,” Kuecker said.
In a brief introduction to the event, Kuecker expanded on the personal relationship he has had with racial issues, sharing how he had two uncles in his hometown of Chicago who “had elements of race and racism in [their lives].”
“I know that’s part of me. I know that’s part of my heritage. I know that’s part of me as a human being, and those are things that I struggle with, that I struggle to make sense out of.”
While turn out peaked at around 15, Kuecker believes this isn’t due to people caring less about this issue, and that he doesn’t let attendance worry him.
“If one person shows up great, if three hundred people show up, fantastic. That’s irrelevant.”
Assistant professor of English Tamara Stasik agreed that attendance isn’t a reflection of how the community at large feels about this issue.
“This time of year there’s a lot of other things going on, a lot on students’ minds, work that they need to do,” she said. “Just because they’re not here doesn’t mean they’re not thinking about it.”
The students who did show up, however, were passionate about bringing attention to these events.
“I wish I could be more action and involved in this,” said junior Hannah Viti. “It’s a really important issue to me, and I think it should be to everyone, especially on college campuses when this is directly effecting the youth and people our age.”
One person who has taken extra steps to be involved in this issue, is senior Ashton Johnson. Having already visited Ferguson over her Thanksgiving break, she plans to return during spring break.
During her time there, she was shown around by Joshua Jones, ’14.
“He showed me the different sites than you might see on TV,” she said. “Just to be there and to be in that space, to be where Michael Brown’s body lay for four hours was a life changing experience for me.”
Johnson agreed with Viti that being involved, and being aware, are two important objectives for any DePauw students.
“Coming out to these events helps you realize that there’s more going on out there in the world, not just going to Roy O or Asbury to go to class. We’re learning these things within these buildings in order to engage with what goes on in the outside world.”
Even for those who didn’t come out, Kuecker feels that putting forth the call to action, and standing outside with the people who answered was an important step.
“It’s a symbolic statement to the community,” he said. “Even if people don’t come out, at least they’re pausing for a moment to reflect and think about where we are with these things.”