This morning, I did something I normally don’t do: I slept in until 9:00. I woke up, I threw on a t-shirt, and I decided to treat myself to an omelette in the cafeteria. I was the last person in line, barely missing the cut-off, and I ended up next to a student who was visibly distraught, frantically checking her phone every time it buzzed. Within a few minutes she placed a call and I heard her say, “Mom. You’re never going to believe what I just saw.”
As I listened in on her talking, yelling, practically crying, I felt my heart start to race and my hands start to sweat. I reached for my own phone. Immediately after opening Twitter, I saw the Snapchat in question and saw a student body uniting to make things right. I saw tweets to the Belmont University Twitter page, the sharing of the photo on Facebook to make people aware of what was going on, and the outraged posts of people of all walks of life. Everyone was reaching for something, anything, to make this right, to fix this unimaginable, unfathomable situation.
But the thing is, nothing can make this right.
Belmont swiftly jumped into action with a statement pledging their continued commitment to “build a diverse and inclusive community where all members feel accepted, safe and valued”. Just an hour later, another update was posted to their social media accounts, stating that “the person involved is no longer a student at Belmont”.
Anyone would tell you that I’m practically a walking billboard for Belmont. I believe in this institution and everything they are doing to change the lives of their students. Belmont University is home for me. I have never been so proud of the way a situation has been handled. It was quick. It happened so quickly, in fact, that the entire process was finished before the 24-hour viewing period for a Snapchat Story would have expired. It was as graceful as it could be, given the situation. It had an impact.
But the thing is, the issue doesn’t stop here. The issue doesn’t stop with the removal of one individual from our institution. It’s a start. It’s a great start. But that’s what it is: a start. This isn’t something we can let fade into the background, slowly to be forgotten about. This is a sign that we have to make a change.
The truth, the hard, ugly, cold truth is that there are more people like him on our campus. There are more people like him in our community, in our state, in our country. Comments and actions made in racism and bigotry aren’t always made with flaming language and sent out as Snapchats. They’re jokes made in the back corner of the cafeteria. They’re walking a little bit faster on the sidewalk. They’re the hiring of people who look like you. They’re the snide, under-the-breath comments from behind the steering wheel of your car.
They’re done by all of us.
Today serves as a terribly wonderful springboard into making us all more aware of our actions. It gives us an opportunity to take a step back and reevaluate how we treat others. It gives us the opportunity to stand, united, for something greater than ourselves.
Belmont University is not the remarks of this student. Let’s make sure the world knows that by how the rest of us carry ourselves.