Collaboration with local religious leaders promotes peace and community
Caren Holmes
Staff Writer
In response to student and community concerns surrounding the presidential election, Alexandra Pereyra ’17 is collaborating with local religious leaders to organize a rally in downtown Wooster at 5:15 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9. Pereyra explains that the purpose of the rally is to generate “proactive peace” and “bridge the gap between the College and community.” While the College has made services available to students who need support in processing the consequences of the election, Pereyra is concerned with the gap in recourses available to the greater Wooster community. She is actively collaborating with Pastor Dries of the St. James Episcopal Church, Pastor Andries Coetzee of Westminster Presbyterian Church and Juanita Greene, president of the Wooster and Orrville chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
The rally will take place in the gazebo at the corner of N. Market and E. Liberty Streets in downtown Wooster. The organizers are working to solidify speakers to take part in the rally. They will also be distributing information and encouraging individuals to financially support national organizations including Planned Parenthood, the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union, all of which represent groups that have expressed fear and concern over Trump’s presidency. The Wooster mayor, Robert Breneman, has also been invited to attend the event. Pereyra has reached out to student leaders as well as the Wooster Daily Record to publicize the event to the greater Wooster community.
Pereyra explained that the event “is not an anti-Trump rally” but she expressed concerns that the protest may be interpreted as an explicitly partisan event. She affirms that students and community members that choose to harass others will be asked to leave. In efforts to combat any form of harassment that protesters may experience, the organizers are working to confirm St. James Episcopal Church as a safe space open to those who feel they need to step away from the rally.
Pereyra hopes that the rally will not be a divisive event but rather a showcase of community solidarity. She said, “I am hoping that the event will bring people together and start a conversation. Even if some people do not respond well to the rally, there will be many present who are determined to make Wooster a safe town and are interested in starting up a human rights resources organization in the town.”
Students interested in participating in the event are encouraged to join Pereyra at 4:45 p.m. outside the Lowry Center to walk from the campus to the gazebo in downtown Wooster.