By Abagail Chartier
Students and faculty will be gathering at the Quad Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. for a Sit-In lead by Students In Action (SIA) in conjunction with the Office of Intercultural Affairs.
The sit-in will have several speakers discussing the frustrations students, alumni, and staff have regarding recent events such as the misspelling of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery and the erroneous history of Juneteenth in an email from the college, a letter from faculty members that was spread discussing diversity, and microaggressions in the classroom.
“I think that for some of our students of color, they’ve had enough and they need to see change that happens immediately. We have been telling generations of students that change takes time... but when is going to be the time?” said Latesha Fussell, the Director of Intercultural Affairs. “This should help the institution figure out what direction we need to go in for the next couple of moths, and potentially the next couple of years.”
The plan is for the sit-in to be a time to hear the voices of the community and discuss the changes that members of the Stonehill community would like to see.
“Even two people showing up is successful to me, because then people are talking about it. I don’t have an expectation for it. Just coming together to have this conversation is important.” Fussell said.
A couple hundred participants are hoped to come, as many faculty have sent email to their students encouraging to do so.
The initial plan of SIA was a walk-out and then a sit-in, but the students found that they were already being backed – and even joined – by a number of the faculty members, rendering the walk-out unnecessary due to lack of resistance to the movement.
The event is supported by many senior officials at the college as well, and members such as Stonehill President Father John Denning, Vice President of Student Affairs Pauline Dobrowski, and Stonehill’s Chief of Police David Wordell among others are expected to make an appearance Wednesday.
The sit-in will also be streamed on Zoom for students who are remote or not on campus, and a recording of the event will be made available at a later date.
To sign up for the Sit-In, click the link here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSckQyAT9WzgA8lrGsvF7D9Bmitrf32EzqAt1MYhQomOJEE1qw/viewform
To access the Zoom, click the link here: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://stonehill.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIrdOyrqDgvH9ff2aaJurKnvkz20OgzGJ0k&sa=D&ust=1603240332662000&usg=AFQjCNFPW2Sf3iYyE2JF35GXQ7-DxXLBkg