A week after a Missouri grand jury chose not to indict a white police officer in the August shooting death of an unarmed black teenager, Elon University students, staff and faculty shared their reactions to the national story and offered insights on ways for the nation to move forward in a positive direction.
More than three dozen Elon University students, professors and staff members gathered Monday evening in the Lakeside Meeting Rooms to offer their views on the shooting of a black teenager by a white Missouri police officer and a grand jury’s decision not to indict the officer in that death.
Organized by the Center for Race, Ethnicity & Diversity Education and the Council on Civic Engagement, participants held small-group conversations around five large tables with a collective discussion ending the program on a forward-looking note.
“People have had a strong reaction to this one way or another, and we wanted to create a place for people to share ideas and be heard,” said Randy Williams, Elon University’s presidential fellow, special assistant to the president and dean of Multicultural Affairs. “These are topics we like to bring forward for community gatherings.”
Issues of race, class, authority and trust have roiled the nation since the August shooting of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old teenager who was just days from starting college. Brown and a friend were stopped in the middle of a town street by Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson, and within two minutes, a physical altercation led to the unarmed Brown’s death.
A grand jury’s decision not to indict Wilson was announced Nov. 24, 2014, with protests and demonstrations breaking out across the United States in the days that followed. Elon students had expressed interest to Student Life administrators about holding a program on campus to share their thoughts about the story.
Participants on Monday evening considered questions such as:
- What are your reactions to the decision not to indict Darren Wilson in the killing of Michael Brown?
- What did you perceive as being the biggest issue (e.g., racism, incompetence, media coverage, other) in the Ferguson case?
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once stated, “A riot is the language of the unheard.” Do you think the aftermath of Monday’s decision is a reaction to issues of groups being unheard in our society? Why?
- How do we constructively move forward as a culture, as policy actors and as members of a diverse society?
“We are all processing this decision in different ways,” Carla Fullwood, associate director of CREDE, told those who took part in the Dec. 1 conversation.
Monday was the second time this semester that Elon leaders organized a campus event in response to events in Ferguson. An August panel discussion brought hundreds of students, staff and faculty to McKinnon Hall to hear from faculty about the legal, cultural, economic and historical factors at play in the unfolding story.
The Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life and CREDE also are hosting “Worship and Prayer Vigil for Racial Reconciliation” on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 5:30 p.m. in the Sacred Space of the Numen Lumen Pavilion.
The ecumenical worship is being organized and led by students from several different Christian groups on campus, including Gospel Choir, InterVarsity, Affinity, Catholic Campus Ministry, LEAF (Lutherans, Episcopalians, and Friends) and others.