Janel England
News Editor
At noon on Friday, Dec. 2, 15 students, led by Helen Overstreet ’17, gathered in front of Lowry Center to sing “Amazing Grace.” While they sang, they held signs with phrases such as “embrace compassion, embrace action,” “#Undocumented Lives Matter,” and “#Black Lives Matter, #Queer Lives Matter, #Indigenous Lives Matter,” as well as a quote from Assata Shakur that read, “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win.” In addition to the signs, members of the group passed out small slips of paper that read, “We love and support you. You are not alone.” Overstreet held up cue cards that had three verses of “Amazing Grace” on them for those in the group who may not have known the words. Overstreet said that she chose to use that specific song which “has been used so much in political movements because it helps us find hope in collaboration and can enable communication when we’re at a loss for words.”
Emma Farrenkopf ’19 who sang with the group and helped to organize the demonstration said that the purpose of it was to emphasize unity and support among the Wooster community. While the demonstration was originally supposed to occur right after the election, busy schedules pushed it back to after Thanksgiving break.
“This was actually perfect. The purpose of this demonstration became more rooted in the College of Wooster community. We sang to welcome students back from break, focusing on those who were spending the holiday in a place they did not feel welcome, particularly after this presidential election” stated Farrenkopf.
“This was our effort to welcome them back to the Wooster community with open arms. To show them that they matter and have a community ready to fight for and with them,” said Farrenkopf.
“I also wanted to do this because I want people to realize that we must be participants, not bystanders, in history, and wanted to help students experience the process of planning and speaking out in a political context (something I believe will be important in the next four years),” added Overstreet.
After about ten minutes the group moved inside of Lowry, where they continued to sing and pass out the notes. Sara Beckstrom ’18 said that the move was because of “the cold and that there were more people inside by the Pit.” Once inside, some passers stopped to listen to the group for a couple of minutes including President Sarah Bolton. After the group had concluded singing, President Bolton shook hands with some of the members and remarked, “Thank you so much for doing this. It was beautiful.”
Overstreet urges others to remember that “academics and passing finals may seem like the most important thing in the world, but we cannot be neutral without contributing to racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-LGBT institutions through our passivity.”
“We are more powerful and essential than we may realize, and have the power not only to experience compassion, but to come together to act with conviction,” said Overstreet.