On February 16th, the Kutztown community untied forces with Kutztown University and came together to respond to the hate, racism, and bigotry that has been shown throughout the country. This was for the benefit of both residence and students of Kutztown.
Students have been feeling unsafe over the past few months due to the posters that have a targeting tendency and make some feel uncomfortable. Seeing thees posters being displayed made students talk about the issuues at hand. This made them want to do more and thats when the Solidarity Walk was born. These posters are from racist and radical organizations such as Identity Evropa. Identity Evropa is a white nationalist group. The are a group made of white men speaking out about an all-white fascist ethnocentric state. There have been posters all around the country that read “our future belongs to us” and “serve your people.” At first glance one might not know where they are from or even know what they are talking about do to the vagueness in their messages. But the recent publicity they have gotten the more people are recognizing this organization. This is creating fear and tension in the contry.
The march was located on campus and started at Schaffer Auditorium and ended at the Academic Forum. People spoke about what this walk meant to them and why they decided to be part of it. Even Kutztown University’s President Kenneth Hawkinson came to show his support. President Hawkinson said that he was happy to see the KU students standing up for what they believe in and to see fellow students at KU support each other.
This walk showed a lot about the student body here at Kutztown. Even the residents of Kutztown got involved. They showed their support by attending the march. This walk vocalized people’s thoughts and feelings on what is currently happening around the country and the world. The members of Kutztown Resists wanted to show that they will speak out and Kutztown will resist this hate. At this point this walk is bigger then Kutztown, this walk is for all the people who need support and love from their fellow American’s and thats what Kutztown Resist did. People have been speaking around the county about the shift that the county is going through due to the political climate.
Over all this walk was a success for the KU community. It might have not gotten national coverage but it showed that the students are a united front. This world is not a safe space, but knowing that the students and residents feel safe to speak their mind here at Kutztown is a great step forward.