FROM THE CAMPUS MINISTER
The arrest of more than 70 students and others last
Wednesday (February 1, 2017), at a peaceful protest and sit-in at Ohio University’s Baker Center,
has brought home to Athens and Ohio University a deeply troubling trend in our
national dialogue around race, religion, justice, and civil rights. While there
may be differing opinions as to the extent of the “disruption” created by the
protesters (for instance, those attending an event in the Front Room that
evening might have experienced the large protest just outside differently from
those who witnessed part of the protest in person or via streaming video),
there is no “alternative” to the fact that in a situation that was escalated by
the presence and action of a large number of local law enforcement personnel as
well as a few counter-protesters, no person or persons emerged to play the role
of a mediating presence that might have been able to de-escalate the situation.
As a campus minister
who serves the Ohio University and Athens communities, I wish with all my heart
that I had been there. Had I not been fully engaged elsewhere in another part
of my role, I would have been there. Not because I am uniquely qualified to serve
as a mediating presence—there are many in this community who could do that
better, and some of them hold positions of much greater power and influence
that might have been of help in defusing the situation. No, I wish I had been
there because part of what we do here is to “walk toward trouble.” And that’s
the discouraging trend we see—the dwindling willingness of people who should
know better to do the same: to show up and engage and to help mediate tense and
potentially conflictual situations. We can do better than this.
If the last couple of
weeks are any indication, the coming weeks and months are likely to offer many
more opportunities to “walk toward trouble.” I hope, intend, and expect to rise
to those occasions. For the sake of the students and community members who will
be continuing to stand up and speak out for justice and inclusion in the face
of rising fear, mistrust, and bias, I hope we all do. I would hate for Ohio
University to become a place where principled and public expressions of dissent
draw to them not compassionate concern and engagement, but silent acquiescence
to heavy-handed suppression. If you agree, perhaps we can find ways to work on
this together.
Email Evan at evan@ucmathens.org
