As a form of joyful protest, the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) community banded together at the campus-wide Unity Day event to stand against the rhetoric of known white supremacist Jared Taylor.
The event’s entrance featured a bull riding machine, a disc jockey booth and a massive sign signifying that visitors from outside of CMU needed to abide by campus rules.
Event organizers stood near the entrance cooking burgers and hot dogs to feed the student body. Alongside these cooking booths, staff members maintained a stockpile of orange juice, fruit punch and other refreshments throughout the day.
On the other side of the plaza’s field, student club and department booths included various experiences for event attendees. Notably, the Geosciences Department offered a wide variety of free minerals to students.
“It’s good for everyone to get exposure to the Geosciences Program in a positive way! They can even take a rock,” said environmental geology major Ava Marso.
Next to the Geosciences Department’s table, the American Sign Language (ASL) club offered unique crossword puzzles and the political science department played trivia-based Jenga games to test political knowledge.
Alongside overwhelming event support, the political science club also sought to educate attendees on free speech
“I think it’s a good idea and I’m glad to see the community so alive and so together. Defending our rights to free speech is important,” said president of the political science club Kyle Pattenson.
Organizational efforts for Unity Day predominantly included that of political science club faculty sponsor Dr. Holly Oberle.
Planning of the event itself began after an email from CMU President John Marshall went out to the student body regarding Taylor’s speaking event on March 6.
Almost immediately, students began organizing response efforts.
“It is amazing that this went from an action plan submitted to the ASG and President Marshall on [March 10] to […] something concrete. Now, we are expecting over 1,000 people and have over thirty clubs [participating]. We are going to be ordering pizza soon because there are so many people and the food trucks are packed,” said Unity Day organizer Alex Austin.
With such a large amount of the student body set to attend, other student organizations quickly offered their support.
Particularly, the Gender and Sexualities Alliance (GSA) and Associated Student Government (ASG) became crucial to the event’s success.
“We teamed up with the GSA and ASG, but it was really hard and […] definitely a scramble. We were all putting in forty hour weeks, in addition to school work,” said Unity Day organizer Sam Hartley. “We had a lot of people on board and people who wanted to help and that is how it really got together.”
Clustered on the left-hand side of the plaza near Dominguez Hall, members of the Cultural Inclusion Council (CIC), including GSA, the Native American Student Association (NASA), the International Student Association (ISA) and the Latino Student Association (LSA), played cornhole, soccer and football.
“I think this event is an amazing opportunity for students to come together and have fun. Students are noticing their differences and celebrating in a safe environment,” said NASA coordinator McKenna Labelle.
Representatives from across the various CIC groups had different levels of involvement during event coordination efforts. Co-coordinators of GSA Abby Brownell and Markus Hays were some of the most dedicated organizers.
“We basically came together with Campus Unity and wanted to throw an event as a big FU to Jared Taylor and as a way to redirect students,” said Brownell. “Unity Day brings together all types of students and clubs. It has been really fun to organize.”
One aspect Hays recognized was the pure influx of attendees. He also noted the immense support the student body showed in fighting Taylor’s views.
“There [are] a lot more people than I expected!” said Hays. “I am so happy that there are a lot of people around here who agree that Jared Taylor is bullshit.”
Another member of the GSA’s central organizing team was K McCormack, who spoke at the original event planning session on March 10. They were similarly enthusiastic about the event’s magnitude and message.
However, in light of student efforts, McCormack remained adamant that Marshall did not offer a sufficient response.
“It’s bullshit that we have anything […] to counterprotest at all! Make Nazis afraid again,” said McCormack.
Additionally, a sentiment from one of Marshall’s emails referencing the event struck a similarly negative chord. Other students believed the student body’s efforts at the Unity Day event became a shield for him to use against criticism.
“I am fucking pissed at John Marshall for allowing this to escalate this much [and] for John Marshall to show up to this student event,” explained sophomore Gigi Higginbotham. “I will not stand shoulder-to-shoulder with John Marshall because he does not deserve to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with me.”
Meanwhile, when considering the event’s attendance, those in professional positions on campus expressed a feeling of pride at the student organizers’ success.
“I am impressed and think this is what a Unity [Day] festival should be,” explained operations manager of Student Life Gabe Simon. “Everything looks really peaceful and, ultimately, this event was put together out of love and that is what it turned out to be.”
Overall, the majority of attendees, organizers and visitors expressed their appreciation and pride in the event’s successful execution. By allowing the diverse voices on campus to shine, CMU students will feel the lasting impact of Unity Day’s celebrations, in light of its origins.
“This is a really big show of who we are as a community. We are multicultural and we are happy,” said Unity Day organizer Elena Lotz.
