Brenau Takes Social Cues from Mass Shooting

On February 14th, 2018 a former student of Stoneman Douglas High School easily obtained AR-15 and brutally gunned down and massacred 14 of his classmates and two teachers. This joins the growing record of the worst mass shooting in American History.

On Wednesday, March 14, 2018, Brenau University stood in remembrance of the young lives lost in the shooting but also in solidarity with the rest of United States in pressing Congress to pass stricter gun laws. A stance Brenau is unwilling to admit but rather conceal the actual purpose with a cover story of remembrance.

Brenau Walkout was a movement that will go down in Brenau history. Students and teachers joined together to remember the victims and ponder the thought of: could this have been someone I know and love? As many of the attendees ponder the loading-bearing thought the Brenau honor students read a recollection of the victim’s achievements, some short others long. The honor students also created poster-boards to create awareness of the long-lasting detrimental affects gun violence can have on the world by remembering the victims.

As the eulogies of the victims were being read a bell rang in honor of their loss presence on earth. This strike of the clock was almost comparable to how quickly their lives were taken from them. I spoke to two students who were at the Walkout and they describe how it impacted them:

Keamber Johnson, a freshman at Brenau says she “ felt extremely sorry for the victims “ but says “it didn’t impact me”. The reason it didn’t impact her greatly, because she claims society gives you “this sense of there’s nothing we can do about (gun violence), it’s not up to civilian to make a change but rather the law and the government”. The only duty we should have as civilians are “to have sympathy”.

Jasmine Holt, an honor student that read a remembrance for one of the victims describe her experience as “very emotional but good seeing my school stand for something important especially after losing two friends to gun violence over the past couple of years it’s good to see Brenau stand for something for once.”