PC students hold Unity March

PC students hold Unity March

Approximately 240 Presbyterian College students, faculty, and staff marched across campus Thursday in solidarity with women and people of color.

Multicultural Student Union organizers said they organized the Unity March to be a peaceful show of support for everyone affected by the incident on Feb. 11.

MSU secretary-treasurer Suubi Mutebi called the event an exercise in “building a community full of loving people who hold each other accountable and care for each other no matter the differences.”

“This march shows we can come together as a community and bond as a family,” he said.

MSU president Enia Woodard said the Unity March was an opportunity for all members of the PC community, regardless of race, to remember that all of them have the same fundamental goal – a successful future.

“If we stand together with our differences, we can help one another,” she said. “PC is our college, and we’ve all decided to come here for many different reasons, but the main reason is a better future. It’s up to us as students to change the atmosphere and make each other feel at home.”

PC’s NAACP chapter president Kennedy Elise Perry told the crowd that they stood as a unit of freedom, justice, integrity, humility, pluralism, and grace.

“Unity is not just a word but an action,” she said. “We must continue every single day to build bridges of love and fellowship amongst each other to fight inequities and inequalities that affect society and the PC community.”

In a joint memorandum sent to campus Wednesday afternoon, PC president Dr. Matt vandenBerg and faculty chair Dr. Erin McAdams said they are encouraged by the outpouring of support from students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni for the visitors from Howard University and for women and people of color in the PC community.

“We are particularly proud of the leadership of our Multicultural Student Union, who coordinated an opportunity for PC’s campus to walk in solidarity with athletes of color and to demonstrate our collective support for Howard University’s student-athletes and coaches,” the statement read.

“Working together as one campus community, PC will seize this moment to truly live out and demonstrate our values, especially our commitment to seek justice, to defend and honor the humanity and inherent value of all people, and to walk boldly on the path to growth and reconciliation,” the statement said.

McAdams and vandenBerg were joined by dozens of faculty members, staff, and administrators who also participated in the march.