Student-led march and class walkout to take place on Thursday
The “Protest Against Hate” walk-out and march is planned for Thursday morning on Georgia Southern University’s Statesboro campus. The march will start at the Carroll Building and end at the president’s office in the Marvin Pittman Building.
October 30, 2018
A student-led “Protest Against Hate” walkout and march has been organized for Thursday morning on Georgia Southern University’s Statesboro campus.
According to a tweet by GS student Tyler Hicks, the walkout, sit-in and march will begin at the Carroll Building and end at the Marvin-Pittman Building on Sweetheart Circle.
{{tncms-inline account=”Tyler Hicks” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/wI6XKevi2s">pic.twitter.com/wI6XKevi2s</a></p>&mdash; Tyler Hicks (@TyHicks97) <a href="https://twitter.com/TyHicks97/status/1055517835143888900?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 25, 2018</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/TyHicks97/status/1055517835143888900″ type=”twitter”}}
“Everyone participating or standing in solidarity should wear all black,” the post said. “At 11:11 [a.m.], students should walk quietly out of their classes and meet in the Carroll Atrium for a sit-in. At 4 p.m., students will gather and we will march from Carroll to the president’s office.”
The march was organized by GS student Zachary Payne, who said he is working to mobilize student leaders across campus. He also wrote the letter shared on Twitter.
“What we are trying to accomplish is to advocate change, and change happens from the top down,” Payne said in an email. “If we can establish open and honest communication with the administration and show the administration that change is what is needed on this campus, that is the right place to start.”
The march is a response to the previous incidents that have happened this year, including the “triggerish” incident and GS professors Karen McCurdy and Rebecca Kennerly being accused of using the “N-word” to students.
“Nobody deserves to deal with words of hate from the institution they chose for their education,” Payne said. “And nobody deserves to fight the injustices alone. We are doing this protest to show the administration, faculty and fellow students that we will not give up this fight, and we will not bow down, until change has been implemented.”
Rachel Adams, The George-Anne News Reporter, ganewsed@georgiasouthern.edu.
