The student-led demonstration brought the campus community together to speak out against racism and hate and call for change.
Hundreds of students, faculty, staff and administrators gathered at Speakers Corner outside Moseley Center on Friday to send a very clear message: hate has no place at Elon University.
The gathering was part of the student-organized “Take Back Our Streets” demonstration. The event was in response to a convoy of vehicles that drove through the Elon campus with members who spewed racist and hateful taunts at bystanders on the street.
The gathering served as a reminder to all members of Elon University that they are not alone in the fight for safety and equality.
“Today, we are going to take back our streets because when met with division and hate, we stand together in solidarity and love to continue our fight for justice and equality,” said Hana Hawthorne ’22, one of the event’s organizers, as she addressed the crowd on Friday.
Hawthorne spoke in front of the crowd of people wearing face coverings as she promised to continue holding university administrators accountable for the safety of Elon students, faculty and staff. Katie Grinnell ’21 followed Hawthorne with a list of action steps for the university to take in order to prevent and better respond to future events. Among those attending Friday were members of Elon’s senior leadership, including President Connie Ledoux Book, who came to listen to the community’s concerns.
Following her opening remarks, Hawthorne, with megaphone in hand, led the crowd on a march down several of the streets on which the recent convoy traveled. The group marched from Moseley Center to North O’Kelly Avenue, then down East Haggard Avenue, North Williamson Avenue and back to Speakers Corner. Marchers chanted “Black Lives Matter,” “Whose streets? Our streets,” and “Love, not hate. Make Elon great,” as they traveled on the roughly one-mile-long route.
Upon returning to Speakers Corner, Randy Williams, vice president and associate provost for inclusive excellence and associate professor of education, addressed the audience. Williams shared how as a father, administrator and Black man, he has wrestled with the news of the convoy that traveled through campus and the verbal attacks that were made. He encouraged the crowd to continue to root out hate and hold himself and other university administrators accountable to Elon’s mission to provide an inclusive, diverse and equitable community for all.
“We are imperfect beings, we will not get it right every time, we will have flaws,” Williams said. “But fortunately our internal accountability, the accountability that you apply, together, bring us to a place where we can be victors, we can be successful in this community, we can be a light unto the world where there is darkness.”
Another student organizer, Khaaliq Van-Otoo ’22, reminded the crowd not to let their efforts end with the demonstration at Speakers Corner, but instead to take their passion and apply it to every aspect of their lives.
“Let’s continue to bring this unity into our community, organizations, families and friends,” he said. “Let’s educate ourselves and one another. Let’s use our voice and our vote to take the justice and equality that every single one of you are due.”
Friday’s event followed a Sept. 1 demonstration on Young Commons in which the Elon community showed solidarity in response to acts of police brutality, including the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. On Friday the hundreds of marchers continued to advocate for change and proved Elon will not quit in the fight for justice.
“As the Elon community, today and every day we stand tall,” Hawthorne said.