Members of the Kenyon College community are joining the national conversation provoked by recent events in New York, Cleveland and Ferguson, Mo. Last week, President Sean Decatur wrote about the search for lessons in the tragic deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice.
“All of us at Kenyon make a commitment to lead well-examined lives, to understand the complexity behind tragic events, to learn lessons from both history and present-day, and to apply these lessons as we move beyond the Hill,” Decatur wrote in his blog. “Our work is not complete until we push ourselves to apply the experiences of the classroom to meaningful examination of the events of our time.”
Students, faculty and staff marched on Sunday, Dec. 7, in solidarity with the families of Garner, Brown and Rice and in protest of the recent grand jury decisions in Ferguson and New York. The peaceful march, organized by students, started at both Bexley Hall and Old Kenyon, with the two groups meeting in the middle of campus for speeches from students and faculty.
Professors Marla Kohlman, Irene López, Glenn McNair and Ric Sheffield will share their thoughts on the events in a panel discussion Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 4:10 p.m. in Rosse Hall. The event is sponsored by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.