LMU rallies against hate

“What do we want? No discrimination! When do we want it? Now!”

These were the words Miranda Hernandez, a junior sociology major, began yelling on the lawn of Sunken Garden in front of Sacred Heart Chapel on Tuesday afternoon. Her words prompted the crowd, who was gathering to rally against discrimination in all forms, to cheer and chant along with her. The crowd had just completed a walk to Sunken Garden from O’Malley Lawn near U-Hall, which had been organized by the collaboration of multiple on-campus organizations, including: Black Student Union (BSU), Brothers of Consciousness (BOC), Sistah Friends, various service organizations, ASLMU, RHA and numerous chapters of Greek Life. Most of the participants in the rally walked dressed in black shirts, many of which read “Zero Tolerance” to depict, in a peaceful way, that discrimination would not be tolerated in the LMU community.

“People who decide to discriminate — based on appearance, because that’s what it really winds up being — aren’t ignorant. They know exactly what they’re doing; it’s a moral issue,” reflected Dr. Brad Stone of the philosophy department on the topic.

According to Chief Hampton Cantrell of the Department of Public Safety, there have been incidents reported concerning acts of discrimination. “Since the incident that occurred on Oct. 4 that was reported in the Loyolan pertaining to the screaming of racial epithets near Rosecrans, Whelan and Desmond, two other reports have come to LMU DPS regarding bias-motivated incidents. The first report was on Oct. 17, 2009. Four female students were walking on Ignatian Circle, and some students in a minivan were driving by. One of the males in the van began making what were described as monkey noises, or imitating monkeys, and continued driving towards the resident halls near Desmond and Rosecrans where they pulled into the parking lot. The students reported what happened that evening, and we took a report, and the incident is currently under investigation.  We also received a report on Oct. 18 at 9:30 p.m. A student reported that three pieces of paper were attached to her dorm room with writing that included the ‘n-word,’ so the student brought the writings to DPS and we are also investigating that,” he said.

“Last year I was actually assaulted, and we believe it was a racial [incident]. I didn’t report it to P-Safe, so for me, this is a huge event that will inspire other people to actually speak out and to actually not be scared to tell people what’s going on in the community. As the fifth safest campus in the nation [as reported in Reader’s Digest], it’s important that we maintain that safety,” said Nathan Tran, sophomore business law major and president of Han Tao, Chinese-American Club.

Fr. William Fulco, S.J., Ph.D. lead the gathering in prayer to set the tone of the walk.
The prayer included, “This noon at Loyola Marymount University, we renew our commitment to one another of every background, and express openly that we will not indulge in or accept discrimination or hatred on our campus or elsewhere … In our own lives, let us find a new love and a new forgiveness.”

Members of different groups held various signs during the walk that displayed sentiments of anti-discrimination. There were also signs anchored to wooden posts in the ground along the course of the walk that displayed quotes that encouraged acceptance of diversity.

When asked what she thought of the rally, freshman dance major Alexis Howell said, “I’m not necessarily surprised that there are a lot of people here, but I’m really glad there are, and that this is such a diverse group of people. I’m glad this was made an LMU issue, because [discrimination] really affects all groups of people.”

Freshman psychology major Michael Bachmeier expressed a similar appreciation for the event. “The unity of the whole student body is powerful, and it inspires me to live my life better,” he said. Nate Peterson, the RD for Del Rey South, revealed that almost the entire psychology learning community had come out for the rally.

 Kaitlyn Holstine, a freshman business law major, was the first to address the crowd at Sunken Garden. “This is an incredible sight to see, and I’m incredibly proud to be an LMU Lion right now. I just want to make it clear that this march was not to address the individuals who have participated in racist events, and this is not to sympathize with the victims of the events. This march is to show that we are a community, and that we do not stand for racism on this campus. Although the recent victims of racism have been African-American, that does not mean that it is just an African-American community issue.

Because they were students, it means that it’s an issue for all of us as an LMU community.

Right now, I’d like for all of us to reflect that we go to a Jesuit institution, and Jesuit values are about how we respect one another and promote social justice, and all of us here really need to evaluate whether or not we have those same values that our institution [promotes].”

Executive Vice President and Provost of LMU, David W. Burcham, J.D., spoke after Holstine and reflected on Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous dream that one day, people would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their characters. “We are, as a University, absolutely committed to that dream, and to the positive aspects that diversity contributes to our campus. The equal dignity of human beings is paramount,” he said.

BSU President Ross Bennett spoke afterwards, saying, “The aggressors of these incidents sought to darken our hearts with fear, and upset the livelihood of our community. Statistically, these incidents have been found to occur within the first four weeks of fall semesters, and usually involve alcohol or first-year students. This data does not suggest that after the first year of a student’s life here at LMU, that all discrimination disappears.”

“Maybe people just don’t bother to file reports, or maybe people just start warming up to the idea of social justice after the first year. Whatever the reason may be, we cannot justly hold LMU responsible for the opinions of those who would seek to cause disharmony within our community. In the past, there have been marches against intolerance and demands have been made to effect necessary change on campus in regard to discrimination. The University has met those demands, and we have come a long way since then. Today, we are not here to make demands, but to stand together and stand firm.”

The final person to speak at the rally was Elder Ben Stephens of Campus Ministry, who incited the crowd to scream, “Love!” in repetition, and asked each person to link arms and tell someone near them, “I love you.”

“It’s important to understand that there is administration support, and they are involved,” said ASLMU President Nick Frontiera. “It is important that we reflect on this gathering and these current feelings, and try to walk this campus with this mentality every single day.”
As Frontiera said, actions are being taken across campus to make sure that these sentiments of equality and love persist and show themselves in the community. There was a teach-in held in U-Hall 3000 yesterday from 5-7 p.m., and ASLMU is making efforts to make these sentiments of acceptance stick as well, evidenced by the fact that yesterday, ASLMU Senate put a resolution in writing that addresses a policy of zero-tolerance for discrimination, and it has been passed by a majority vote.