Editorial: More than thoughts and prayers

Americans were shocked by horrific events last week that changed the lives of those involved forever.

The question is, which event are we talking about?

No, we’re not talking about the Lunar New Year in California signified by a mass shooting that killed 10 people. 

We’re also not talking about the second mass shooting in California that happened the very next day, nor the third mass shooting in the same state that happened just hours later.

We are, in fact, talking about the brutal murder of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, a recent tragic event that had taken hold of the 24-hour news cycle. 

Though that has changed by the time this story is published.

Every time there is a mass shooting, a wrongful death at the hands of police or any other distinctly American instance of violence, the public spends a period of time mourning, sending thoughts and prayers, and clamoring for change.

And then, inevitably, that tragedy gets supplanted by the next newsworthy event, but for the victims’ families, there is no moving on.

The public broadcast of these racially-motivated events have become so commonplace in our country today that they start to feel like natural disasters, like events that we have no control over and that will continue to occur.

In the face of these mounting tragedies and a distinct lack of change, what is a college newspaper editorial supposed to do or say to make any sort of meaningful difference?

Well, to start, we can work on how we handle tragic events on our own campus.

In November, President Helble sent out a campus-wide email notifying students of a racially motivated assault towards a Black student off campus.

Through words of support and rhetoric about the “serious and disturbing” nature of the incident, the president directed us toward counseling services in wake of the situation.

After two months of silence, during which the Bethlehem Police Department was leading an investigation, President Helble sent a follow-up email the Friday before the start of the semester to update students on the incident. 

The email contained a confusing statement that, despite racist epithets being directed at the student during the assault, the incident was determined not to be racially motivated. 

This statement begs the dual questions of what constitutes a racially-motivated assault in the eyes of the university? And, why did the race of the victim need to be specified if the assault was not racially motivated?

With the gravity of the assault and the effect that it may have had on students of color, an email thrown into our already-cluttered inboxes does little to change thoughts, feelings or circumstances for anybody.

At many points throughout the semester, President Helble and the university schedule events meant to engage with the student body: community conversations, video messages and recurring events like Pace the Prez — which encourage already exhausted students to passionately raise concerns while literally running. 

These spaces have largely been used to discuss pre-planned updates to a variety of strategic planning initiatives. However, these events would be much better suited in response to incidents and assaults that leave the campus reeling instead.

As it stands now, the actions of the university feel more like checking off an item on a to-do list rather than a genuine show of support.

We cannot fix the transient coverage intrinsic in mass media, but changes to the responses and actions of our own university are well within our reach.

It may well be true, as the emailed statement claims, that our safety and well-being are the university’s highest priorities.

If we are to believe, however, that our university truly does care as much as it says it does, we have an obligation to hold them accountable when their actions are insufficient.