{"id":154844,"date":"2020-06-16T16:28:54","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T20:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webarchive.umw.edu\/eagleeye\/?p=154844"},"modified":"2020-06-18T14:59:19","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T18:59:19","slug":"march-and-resolution-demonstrate-mary-washingtons-stance-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webarchive.umw.edu\/eagleeye\/2020\/06\/16\/march-and-resolution-demonstrate-mary-washingtons-stance-2\/","title":{"rendered":"March and Resolution Demonstrate Mary Washington\u2019s Stance"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Several

Several hundred University of Mary Washington students, faculty and staff marched from Campus Walk to Market Square in Fredericksburg last week in support of racial equality and Black Lives Matter. Photo courtesy of Dean of Student Life Cedric Rucker.<\/p><\/div>\n

Eight minutes and 46 seconds.<\/p>\n

After walking from the University of Mary Washington campus to downtown Fredericksburg\u2019s Market Square, a contingent of several hundred UMW protesters became silent as march organizer Kyree Ford \u201921 set the timer on his iPhone. He directed the marchers to quietly observe the length of time a Minneapolis police officer held his knee on George Floyd\u2019s neck, ultimately terminating his life.<\/p>\n

Unimaginable, is the way Ford, incoming president of the UMW Student Government Association (SGA), described it. The UMW Board of Visitors, in a meeting yesterday, shared that sentiment in a resolution stating that on May 25 \u201cfor eight minutes and forty-six seconds an officer knelt on Mr. Floyd\u2019s neck, as Mr. Floyd called out for his life saying, \u2018I can\u2019t breathe.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Further, stated the Board resolution, \u201caround the world people from all nationalities, ethnic and racial backgrounds, and walks of life have assembled to protest, march and rally to mourn Mr. Floyd\u2019s death and express their outrage with the social injustice of systemic racism that has led to the deaths of George Perry Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Michael Brown and so many more.\u201d<\/p>\n

The resolution, which passed unanimously, resolved that the Board supports the family of George Floyd and \u201cstands with the thousands in our country and around the world, including members of the Mary Washington community, who have engaged in peaceful protests to affirm that Black Lives Matter, and to call for an end to the social injustice and systemic racism that permeates the fabric of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford said he and the SGA Cabinet \u201cfelt moved to do something during this very difficult time.\u201d How crazy, he said, that in the midst of a deadly pandemic, \u201cwe have to go out and fight for our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last Friday\u2019s hastily organized march drew students, faculty, staff and administrators, many carrying signs. President Troy Paino and his family joined in. Ford said he was overwhelmed by the turnout. What that level of participation, even in a time of social distancing, says to him is: \u201cMary Washington is on the right side in terms of race relations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Board resolution reinforced that sense for Ford. Also impressive, he added, is the step taken by President Paino and his wife Kelly to initiate with a $5,000 challenge gift a scholarship in memory of George Floyd. The scholarship, which has a goal of $100,000, is designed to promote the development of leadership skills for students committed to addressing societal issues disproportionately affecting black and underrepresented communities.<\/p>\n

Ford said the SGA has called upon various campus groups to create a\u00a0video<\/a>\u00a0and will plan other events later in the summer and after students arrive on campus. \u201cWe want to reaffirm that everyone has a place at Mary Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vice President of Student Affairs Juliette Landphair, who participated in the march, praised the activism and initiative of the SGA. \u201cIt was a powerful reflection of our community values and the energy of our students.\u201d She added, \u201cAs Dr. James Farmer once expressed, \u2018freedom and equality are inherent rights in the United States; therefore, I encourage young people to take on the task by standing up and speaking out on behalf of people denied those rights.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eight minutes and 46 seconds. After walking from the University of Mary Washington campus to downtown Fredericksburg\u2019s Market Square, a contingent of several hundred UMW protesters became silent as march organizer Kyree Ford \u201921 set the timer on his iPhone. He directed the marchers to quietly observe the length of time a Minneapolis police officer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":361,"featured_media":154845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[192,8695,18563,8954,8737],"class_list":{"0":"post-154844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-whats-new-umw","8":"tag-board-of-visitors","9":"tag-jlandpha","10":"tag-office-of-the-president","11":"tag-student-government-association","12":"tag-tpaino","13":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webarchive.umw.edu\/eagleeye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webarchive.umw.edu\/eagleeye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webarchive.umw.edu\/eagleeye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webarchive.umw.edu\/eagleeye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/361"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webarchive.umw.edu\/eagleeye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/webarchive.umw.edu\/eagleeye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webarchive.umw.edu\/eagleeye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webarchive.umw.edu\/eagleeye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webarchive.umw.edu\/eagleeye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webarchive.umw.edu\/eagleeye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}