University of Memphis, Rhodes students join national walkout
TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2018
University of Memphis freshman Jasper Echols was 14 years old when a gun went off inside the Arkansas school he was visiting.
"Everybody was getting down on the ground and yelling," Echols said. He was scared, shocked and frozen. On Wednesday, he was motivated. Motivated to come to a rally of about 150 people on the university campus calling for what he's longed believed: That students should be able to go to school safely, free of gun violence.
"I'm just tired of hearing about it," Echols said of the violence.
The rally was in conjunction with the National School Walkout — an initiative that encouraged students to walk out of class at 10 a.m. in their respective time zones on Wednesday — the one-month anniversary of the shooting that killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida.
Thousands of students walked out of class across the country, including Tennessee.
Echols said he heard about the rally, and went with his friend, sophomore Jalan Veasley during their two-hour break in the morning.
"I feel like this is something I could be a part of," Veasley said.
The event started with small groups of students, and some professors, trickling into the area in front of the University Center, huddled in the chilly shade by a tiger statue. Entire classes arrived as a group, armed with signs that read "Protect students not guns."
"I just like seeing students united," Veasley said.
Both public and private high schools in Shelby County are on spring break this week, but large events took place at both The University of Memphis and Rhodes College. At Rhodes, students were silent before reading the names of the 17 people killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. The U of M rally included 17 minutes of silence.
Rhodes College President Marjorie Hass issued a statement following that school's rally. "Fundamental to a liberal arts education is the teaching of civic life and responsibility," Hass said. "Rhodes supports its students in the pursuit of both civic engagement and free expression."
The school had previously issued a statement saying high school students who were disciplined for peaceful protests would not have that held against them when applying to Rhodes.
Eleanor Fisher, a co-organizer of the U of M event through the Memphis Progressive Student Alliance, said the group wanted to amplify the voices of high school students around the country.
"As college students, it’s our responsibility to stand in solidarity with high school students," she said.
And the concern of gun violence, she said, extends to The University of Memphis.
"It’s in our minds all the time that we could be the next victims of a shooting," Fisher said.
She was supposed to be in a studio art class, she said, but had told her teacher she would be walking out. Many classmates joined her. The teacher turned the event into a class project, Fisher said.
About half the group marched across campus, chanting slogans like: "What do we want? Gun control! When do we want it? Now!" and "When our schools are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!"
They stopped in front of the the FedEx Institute of Technology building on campus and chanted, "Hey FedEx, whaddaya say? Divest from the NRA!"
A handful of speakers called for FedEx to stop offering discounts to NRA members.
Freshman Iesha Covington said she came to the rally after hearing about it from a friend, and found a large group gathered in front of the University Center.
“It seemed like a pretty cool thing to do and be a part of,” she said.
She was supposed to be in class, but thought she had a good chance her teacher would forgive her.
University President David Rudd issued a statement before the event in support of students voicing their opinions.
"It's always good to see students, and any voter for that matter, exercise their voice and influence in the American democratic process," Rudd said. "I would simply encourage students to be attentive to the issue of unexcused absences and their individual class circumstances/demands."
Alexandria Broadnax, a sophomore and the event's other organizer, gave a speech in front of the FedEx building in which she listed dozens of school shootings over the past several years: Sandy Hook Elementary. Chardon High School. Columbine High School. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
"I spent all night compiling this list," she said.
Reach Jennifer Pignolet at jennifer.pignolet@commercial appeal.com or on Twitter @JenPignolet.