AFTER Yeardley Love's death last spring, thousands of University students, faculty and staff members were shocked that such a horrific tragedy could happen in our community. Isn't the University supposed to be a safe, caring community of trust? How could something of these epic, violent proportions occur among our own? These kinds of questions, as well as many others, ran through several of our minds as the University tried to respond to this tragedy.
No one can claim to have the answers to these tough questions. Violence can happen for a variety of reasons, but the first step in reducing it is to acknowledge its presence. This can only happen when we have open conversations about where it comes from and what kinds of effects it can and often does have. This week, you received an e-mail from President Teresa A. Sullivan inviting the University community to participate in Day of Dialogue. Scheduled for Friday, Sept. 24, this event will provide an opportunity for all of us to openly discuss our views about the University community - who we are, our strengths and our weaknesses, and how we can move forward. On behalf of the Get Grounded Coalition, we urge you to join us in this critical conversation.
This dialogue will not be simple. Each session is designed for participants to struggle with complicated questions, including whether or not we live in a caring community. Experts and master teachers will facilitate discussions about hate, bias and violence, as well as how we can overcome these obstacles in real, tangible ways. Though these ideas may seem theoretical, they have very real consequences, ones that cannot and will not be tolerated in our community.
Students have the responsibility to learn and understand how these harmful obstacles influence their everyday lives, and how they can overcome and challenge such obstacles in day-to-day actions. Faculty must use their talents, experiences and insights to take their knowledge about these issues and apply it to real-life situations. As members of a community that places honor as one of its foremost values, we have to incorporate it into the ways we think, learn and interact with one other on a daily basis.
A caring community is only as safe as we want it to be. You can only expect concern and safety from your fellow peers if you yourself are willing to make it that way. In order for our University to move forward after this horrific act of violence, we all need to have honest and real conversations with one another, which is exactly what the Day of Dialogue aims to do.
This event, however, is only the beginning. We have to be willing to continuously strive to create and sustain a community of care if we want to see any real change. That shift in culture has to come from a grassroots level and will only happen if we all put in the effort on a day-to-day basis in the simple interactions we have with one another. If you see or hear something from one of your friends that promotes violence, hate or bias, speak up and say something. Don't let us normalize these ideas into everyday life. We have to challenge them if we want to eradicate the very real, very negative consequences they can have on other people.
The "Get Grounded" coalition is comprised of several student groups that encourage our community to recognize and respect each other's differences, and to react when we see individuals breaching those ideals. We recognize that the only way we can change a culture of silence about these issues is by speaking out to one another, on a peer-to-peer level. Through bystander intervention trainings, the Get Grounded coalition works to teach students different ways to stand up and say something when they hear a friend make a racist remark, a sexist joke or anything else along those lines.
These conversations have to start somewhere, and they are happening now. The Day of Dialogue will only reach its true potential if meaningful discourse exists between all groups within the University community. This is an opportunity for students, faculty members, administrators and Charlottesville residents to come to the table as equals, each bringing a valuable insight to the conversation which we may not receive otherwise.
If you have not done so already, please visit www.virginia.edu/dayofdialogue and register to be a part of this vital conversation. In addition, encourage your friends, classmates or colleagues to go with you. Students, invite your professors. Faculty members, ask your classes to attend. The ideas behind the Day of Dialogue are essential to highlighting hard issues that are often ignored or swept under the rug. Until we acknowledge them, we can't talk about how to prevent the very real consequences they provoke. Join us in taking this first step.
Will Bane is the chair of the University Judiciary Committee. Leslie Keena is the co-chair of the Sexual Assault Leadership council.
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