It was a major distraction in the middle of a busy semester. The students at our college were given a day off, but we faculty and staff were called to commit to an all-day seminar on toleration. The facilitator began to talk about the value of a multi-racial community and how we needed to respect everyone and work together. Whereas this is true, I sat there wondering why this group of wonderful and tolerant folk needed to hear such remedial words. As might be said in an academic setting, this was core curriculum, not graduate study.
I happened to be at the table with the college dean. I leaned over and asked why we were doing this.
“We had a student complain about an incident,” she responded.
Later the dean explained more fully. The matter was something I’d not heard about, and which could’ve been dealt with at the moment and within campus policy without involving the entire staff in additional training. In fact, it was a student-to-student interaction not involving the staff at all.
Like most all-day faculty events, I thought we’d have been more valuable to the school had they made us sit in our offices that day and attend to pressing academic matters!
The dean’s word resonated in my mind; “a student.” One student. The incident illustrated the power of one to effect change, albeit for good or ill.
All of us are given a voice, and we can raise our voice in affirmation or protest. We can affirm those around us who are despondent and unloved. We can offer the gift of friendship and help the oppressed find hope. On the other hand, we can raise our voice in protest when things are wrong. We can stand up to bullies. We can speak in public forums or write letters or alert the press. Such actions have potential to address great wrong.
Susan B. Anthony raised her voice to affirm the right of women to vote, and Martin Luther King raised his voice to affirm the rights of public accommodations and voting and judging character instead of color.
Christian history teaches about St. Telemachus who grew burdened at the bloodshed of the Roman coliseum. He leapt into the arena and began to separate a pair of fighting gladiators. Then he shouted to the emperor, “In the name of Christ, forbear!” The enraged crowd called for his death, and he was struck down. But the emperor finally said, “Enough.” Never again would crowds in that place watch men kill one another for sport.
The power of one voice can make a difference.
Each of us should find our moral compass and use our voice to bring positive change.
