Standing Together in Times of Intolerance and Conflict

The Racial Alliance Committee, a student organization at CVU, planned and hosted an assembly yesterday. We are sharing two observations below, from Principal Adam Bunting and from the guest speaker, Kesha Ram. 

Adam Bunting:

I would like to thank our entire student body, the Racial Alliance Committee, our faculty/staff, Kesha Ram, and Skylar Nash for engaging in a civil dialogue about issues of race in our community. While RAC had planned the assembly weeks before the recent graffiti at our school, it’s clear CVU students stand together against intolerance and hate--even if perspectives and political stances vary. We encourage open dialogue, active listening, critical thinking, and honesty. In the words of Christel, let’s open the book!

Let’s always meet intolerance with a greater love.

Let’s always meet conflict with communication.

The guest speaker, Kesha Ram, shared this afterward on her Facebook page: 

Today, I witnessed one of the most powerful and healing moments of support and solidarity I have ever seen, and it came from young people. As some folks may know, CVU has had several incidents of racist and anti-Semitic graffiti and language on campus in the past month. The students formed a Racial Action Committee and, along with Principal Bunting, invited me to speak as part of a school wide assembly to address these issues together. I spoke about how inspiring it was that these students saw something that frightened and angered them done by their peers, and chose to respond with a unifying event that invited back in to relationship those who committed the acts, those who laughed about them, those who were indifferent, and those who were hurt. I reminded them that just down the road was the Rokeby Museum where Quakers hundreds of years ago took in fugitive slaves and refused to put a price on their heads or acknowledge that they were the so-called property of other white people, essentially saying back then that their lives mattered equally when society was saying otherwise. That Black Lives Matter. After I spoke, a student who has been outspoken among her peers talked about what the Black Lives Matter movement meant to her and how she didn’t want her younger sister to come to the school and be picked on because she was black. She and some of the other students had gone into the assembly fearing heckling and disruptions, and instead she and they received a standing ovation. It brought tears to my eyes and reminded me why I love living here. Thank you, CVU Community. You have turned something awful into something truly special, and I look forward to being there when you raise that Black Lives Matter flag.