Today I wore a black ribbon around my wrist. Today I stood up in chapel when asked if I felt my voice had not been heard or had been misinterpreted. I wore the ribbon around my wrist as a sign of mourning; mourning for a loss of unity within the administration and faculty above me, mourning for relationships with loving, deeply involved professors that I will never get to develop due their leaving Bryan, mourning for friendships with certain students that I will never get to make because they are leaving due to the professors of their departments being forced to leave or leaving by choice, and mourning for the tears I have seen my professors shed for themselves and their colleagues. Today I stood up in chapel because I do not believe that my opinion on these issues has been considered, nor accurately represented. I stood because I most definitely do not feel solid, nor do I have peace in these circumstances. As a freshman I fear that I may be losing some of what appealed to me about Bryan; these things being a sense of unity as a body of Christ, and opportunities to learn from and be mentored to by some very God-fearing followers of Christ. I did not wear this ribbon or stand up in chapel to be rebellious in any sense. I did not do it in hopes of overstepping or undermining my authorities. I did these things to show that I am not unaffected and that I am not stable in my understanding of what is happening at Bryan. I did them to show that I am in love with the community here at Bryan and that my heart breaks over my perception of disunity in the body. Through my actions today I hope solely to communicate my longing for restoration and reconciliation.
Evie McNeese
