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Calvin Holds Teach-In on Racial Justice

July 12, 2016

In light of last week’s police killings of two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota and the killing and wounding of police officers in Texas, Calvin College will be holding a “Teach-In to Stand Up” in the college chapel at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Geared toward fostering racial reconciliation, the event will feature speakers from three departments in the college, who will discuss the events from different perspectives and offer ways in which people can respond.

Last week Tuesday, July 5, Alton Sterling, 32, was killed by police in a confrontation outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, La. On the next day, Philando Castile, 37, was killed in Falcon Heights, Minn., by a police officer who had stopped Castile’s vehicle for having a bad tail light.

On Thursday evening in Dallas, Texas, five police officers were killed, and seven officers and a civilian were injured, when a sniper opened fire during a peaceful protest march being held to draw attention to the two black men who had been killed by police.

While it is important to mourn those events, it is also crucial to “empower people to respond,” said Rev. Mary Hulst, Calvin College chaplain.

“We want to discuss and model how we respond to tragedy. We are not helpless in our responses,” said Hulst.

Issues involved in situations like this—gun violence and racism—can feel so overwhelming. But, she said, this is a time in which it is important to realize “we should become kingdom builders and not just get stuck in despair and lament.”

As part of the teach-in, the plan is to have a station for prayer set up in the lobby of the chapel, said Rev. Paul Ryan, associate chaplain for worship at Calvin.

“We would invite people to write a prayer on a post-it note and stick it to the wall surrounding the lobby art installation, which is about God’s light shining in all arenas of creation,” said Ryan.

“This would communicate right away that this gathering is initiated prayerfully and surrounded by prayer.”

In addition, he plans to set up art stations around the inside of the chapel sanctuary for people who might find it helpful to process the events through drawing.

“I want to include both opportunities to lament but also to pray for reconciliation, healing, and solutions for moving forward,” said Ryan.

Sarah Visser, vice president for student life at Calvin, said the teach-in “will invite teachers, scholars, and practitioners from Calvin and the surrounding community to come together to explore current events through the lens of history and theology.”

The goal, she said, is to engage the community in the call to pursue racial justice.

“The event will set a tone of learning and understanding that will guide us as we acknowledge how we got to where we are and will inspire us as we enact a vision of where we can go from here,” said Visser.

Speakers will include representatives from Calvin’s history department, sociology department, and theology department. Each speaker will make a 20-minute presentation and will then be part of a panel discussion on the topic “What do we do now?”