Dylan Haviland – General Assignment Reporter
NEW HAVEN- The monotonous silence of a Monday night was broken this week. A crowd of student voices chanted, starting as an echo before becoming so loud that everyone heard the message, “Hands up; don’t shoot.”
Two hours after the announcement of the jury’s decision not to indict police office Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., students of Southern Connecticut State University wanted to voice their opinion.
At 11 p.m. dozens of students from Southern peacefully protested their stance on the court ruling. The group walked through the academic and residence quads, holding signs reading ‘Crime Has No Color’ and ‘Am I Next?’
“It started with a senior on North campus and she basically was in a spur of the moment and put it on her Instagram, and everyone who followed her basically met in front of North at 11 o’clock,” said junior sociology major, Portia Green, who was an active member in the demonstration.
As protesters continued marching on campus, more students came out of their dorms, many still in their pajamas. Eventually the group of peaceful protesters met in front of the SCSU Police Station, for a planned ten minutes to let their opinion be heard.
“I’m proud of Southern as a community coming together,” said Sam Maximin, a business-finance major at Southern. “That’s what it’s all about. It gives me hope for us as a university.”
As the 10 minute chant came to a close and the signs were lowered, the group gathered together to pray.
Julio Sanchez, a chemistry major and sophomore at Southern, was a one of the onlookers who witnessed the peaceful protest.
“Violent protests like what are going on down south, you know the same message is getting across but they are doing it in a poor way,” said Sanchez. “You know there is no reason to destroy things to get your point across you know obviously there’s peaceful protests in the past, Martin Luther King he didn’t destroy anything and look what he accomplished. Obviously being more violent and adding to violence is never going to fix anything.”
Photo Credit: Dylan Haviland
