We’ve heard the horror stories. Halloween rolls around and some people pick a costume that sends a totally wrong message. After several attempts to have conversations to prevent controversy and show the appropriate costumes people should wear on Halloween, unfortunately some Dickinsonians did not get the message this Halloweekend.
Vice President Bylander issued a statement Sunday evening reminding students that this photo did not reflect “Dickinson values” and that an investigation was under way. However, while the administration is issuing their investigation, students took it upon themselves to carry on these conversation on their own.
After seeing the image of a student dressed as Colin Kaepernick kneeling down with a gun pointed ot his head circulated the social media pages of the entire campus, outrage ensued. In reaction to the photo, students gathered together around the seal on Britton Plaza to protest on Monday afternoon, with signs saying ‘We will not be silenced’ and ‘We must kneel’ to grab the attention of those around them. Pictures of conversations and the controversial picture itself were spread around for people to pick up and read. During the protest on Britton Plaza, the Black Student Union was in the process of finding an open space for students to gather together and voice their concerns and emotions to the community and speak to those involved with the costume and photo.
The open conversation was meant to take place in Landis House but quickly moved to the Allison Great Hall as more people arrived to take part in witnessing or saying their piece in this conversation. Dickinsonians packed the benches and the murmurs silenced once everyone was settled. We got to hear representatives from the Black Student Union and the Lacrosse team speak about the incident and how the conversation would go. However, once the floor opened up to everyone, we all came to the same conclusion.
These types of incidents are nothing new at Dickinson College.
Many appealed to start communicating and educating each other on the races and cultures around us on campus. Others addressed how they feel, with the anger and pain and frustration that comes with these incidents occurring time and time again. We left knowing that we must continue to talk about these issues and make sure none of this is ignored. The more these instances are ignored and swept under the rug, the more they occur and no change comes of it.
Not only Dickinsonians must learn to continue these conversations but remember to diversify their own groups. Do not forget to take it upon yourself to educate yourself of other people and their backgrounds. With this in mind, we can only hope that Dickinson will continue to try to make change on campus and in the outer world.
Students are continuing to organize discussions on how to move forward as a student body.