After ex-officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on April 20 of the murder of George Floyd, the Mary V. Jordan Multicultural Center hosted a series of open discussions to explore the emotional impact and ramifications of the jury’s decision.
Taking place on April 20, 21 and 23, Multicultural Center staff opened their lobby for students, faculty and staff to vent and process their emotions around others. The initiative for the discussion was shared across multiple departments and administration, with discussion led by Multicultural Center Director Carshonda Martin, Dean of Students Michelle Byrd and Counseling Center Director Dan Jones.
Themes expressed across the discussions varied from emotional exhaustion to personal guilt, with input from members of faculty, staff, administration and the student body. Several attendees were wary of the verdict’s capacity to make the public complacent, considering the decision a starting point for police reform.
“People talked about the fear,” said Martin. “You know many people have fear with a lot of people in authority, and what is that fear coming from? Is it coming from, you know, a situation that they had to deal with or is it because what they watched over the media? The large piece is really wanting to move forward, so after these conversations, what’s next? And it’s just not an office or individual that should be making these changes, they really want to challenge the administration to make those changes.”
The discussion on April 21 included the center’s namesake, Mary V. Jordan, as a special guest. Jordan’s career at ETSU extended over 30 years with a focus on increasing diversity and equity on campus. Jordan expressed her concern over the long term effects of the decision and cited historical precedents such as the Rodney King riots.
Hosted conversations are a staple of the Multicultural Center’s programming, with prior topics including issues of race, equality and more. Partnerships across the university have formed to facilitate the events, and Martin said they are looking forward to more cooperation.
“Over time it seems like there have been some really hot topics that we definitely want to address,” said Martin. “But moving forward we want to go back to being inclusive of all of the discussions and we want to make sure that we’re hitting all the major points, so we are in early conversations that we hope to have at least one session a month.”
