During the last weeks of April and early weeks of May, it felt as if our college campuses-most visibly at Columbia University but also elsewhere-were filled with activists, police, and violence. Demonstrations were attended by supporters and disrupted by police in the name of public safety. The New York City mayor warns of a “movement to radicalize young people” run by “professionals at radicalizing our children.” The responses resulted in an escalation of events that included the takeover of a building on the Columbia campus. Some in the community have called for the National Guard to be sent in.
For those of us who live in Ohio, these calls ring eerily familiar. On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard killed four student protesters and wounded nine others. Although I had not yet been born when this event happened, it has left an indelible mark on Ohio, on Kent State University (a short drive from the National Setting of the UCC and from where I live), and indeed upon all who yearn for peace.
With all this in mind, it then came to my attention that in the weeks before this anniversary a Kent State student group brought Kyle Rittenhouse (the shooter acquitted of murder in shootings during civil unrest in Kenosha, WI in 2020) as a public speaker to the Kent State campus. Out of concern, I reached out to United Christian Ministries on campus at Kent State to ask about the feeling on campus and to offer support. Collar and clergy shirt in hand, I was ready to go! However, in what could only have been divine providence, at the same time the lecture was going on, the ministry had a successful interfaith event with the campus Hillel organization and the Muslim Student’s Association.
Through all of this I am left with a feeling of thankfulness for the UCC chaplains on campuses as they try to minister to an interfaith group of students that may not even be speaking to each other, who are trying to simply finish their semesters and also acting and calling for justice.
I am thankful to those UCC educators who are teaching classes in the middle of crisis and making space for just and civil conversations.
I am thankful to our local church pastors who have entered campuses to assist students, educators, chaplains, and administrators in finding some grounding in the middle of this work.
Most importantly, I am thankful for the way God has witnessed to all of us that justice is not just possible, but probable, even if it comes tomorrow, a year from now, or ten years from now.
