Huddling for warmth near the steps of Marsh Chapel, approximately 100 Boston University community members gathered Friday evening to peacefully rally and find solidarity following Tuesday’s election results.
Hoochie, a BU feminist magazine, organized the rally and reached out to students and faculty to speak at the event. The goal of the peaceful rally was to advocate for human rights, said Christian Rose, an editor of Hoochie.
“We want to strengthen the feeling of common belonging in order to comfort and harden resolve,” said Rose, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. “So that people know at the same time that there is a community here for them and this community will speak out for each other. Community is a tool for empowerment.”
As the sun set on Marsh Plaza, the crowd listened to speakers for two hours as they offered encouragement and consolation to those who were uneased by the future after the election.
Lawrence Whitney, the university chaplain for community life, spoke first. He apologized for speaking as a “straight, white, upper-middle class, cis male, Anglo-Saxon Protestant,” but said his two daughters prompted him to speak out.
“I don’t get to raise my two beautiful daughters in a country led by the first female president,” Whitney said. “Instead, I have to raise my two beautiful daughters in a country led by the rapist-in-chief.”
Student Government President Jake Brewer spoke about what the community should do after the election.
“From here, what we have to do is make social justice language accessible and not combative,” the CAS senior said. “The silver lining in all of this is that we are stronger than ever. We have a tyrant, someone to stand against. And hopefully we can get rid of him and stay together.”
Chloe Hite, a member of Hoochie and a senior in CAS, read an anonymous submission from a student who said she was a sexual assault survivor.
“I am choosing to remain anonymous because I could be any person at BU,” Hite read on behalf of the anonymous woman. “I am not the first, and if nothing changes, I will not be the last … If the administration does nothing with the cases it is given, sexual harassment, assault and rape will continue to happen. It happens here; it happens at BU.”
Along with statements of heavy sentiment, other speakers encouraged the crowd to move forward — Olivia DeFrances, a senior in CAS, offered her thoughts.
“In the wake of it all, what we need to remember is this — it is darkest before the dawn,” DeFrances said. “Every great change in history, every revolution, every step forward in progress has been made when things have seemed to have reached the darkest hour because that is when we rise.”
Erin Kahaly, a CAS freshman, told the crowd “not to act out against Trump supporters.” Earning cheers from the crowd, Kahaly said people do not deserve violence because of who they voted.
“We need Trump supporters as allies in order to stop the hatred,” Kahaly said. “We need their support in order to prevent our brothers and sisters from being beaten and degraded again.”
Several students who joined the rally, such as CAS senior Alina Szremski, said they came out to the rally in the spirit of unity.
“It was important to come together, create community and advocate for human rights, civil rights and civil liberties,” Szremski said.
Emma Forbes, a junior in CAS, said she liked the platform of the protest.
“I appreciated that it was human rights-based,” Forbes said. “I appreciated that it was apolitical. I thought the energy was really good.”
Samantha Arnold, also a junior in CAS, said she attended the protest because she felt strongly about “pushing limits and getting ideas out there.”
“You see how crestfallen people are, and I have friends and family who are afraid and scared,” Arnold said. “We each need to do our duty by coming here and standing up and being that person who sits next to someone on the train … so they feel better.”
I’m interested in asking Pastor Lawrence Whitley how he explains Former President Bill Clinton and His Actual sexual assults on women to his daughters?