I was nervous walking up to the 3rd floor of the library building and into the Advancement office Wednesday morning. I had prepared a pitch for my supervisor to request to participate in the student rally happening at 1:00 PM that would address faculty and the administration be held accountable for perpetuating institutional racism and to take direct action in order to hold up two of the institution’s core values, equity and diversity. However, when I walked into the office it was dead silent. None of the staff were working in the offices, and after checking a couple calendars it looked like everyone’s days were packed with meetings that were unrelated to what was currently happening with the students who would be gathering in just a couple hours to make their voices heard. All except for an all-hands-on-deck meeting, scheduled just 45 minutes before 1:00 PM. Assuming I would most likely be walking into a meeting with the entire advancement team to discuss damage control. I have my own very strong opinions about what had been happening and felt compelled to advocate for students, but was scared of crossing professional lines. Especially since our office works very closely with some of the staff connected to the perpetuation of anti-black institutionalized racism. 

Sitting down at the big table for our meeting, the VP of Advancement expressed how saddened she was by the state in which the college was in and how important it is to support our students. She said she would be supporting students in any way possible during the rally happening at 1:00 PM, and opening it up for us to go around the table to share our thoughts and how we were feeling about the events that had taken place the previous day. As each person went around and shared their sentiments it echoed many thoughts and feeling I had personally had. It felt really incredible to be surrounded by a staff of people who felt so compelled by students actions and the amount of support took me by a little bit of a surprise, having not known what other’s stance in the office would be. When it was eventually my turn to share I took it as a moment to sound off about what wasn’t being said and to provide a student perspective on what I had been witnessing and hearing from me peers. Nervous that I was crossing the professional boundary with many of the issues I was bringing up in relation to the president’s office, which we work very closely with. After I was done speaking I was met with appreciation and really felt the perspective I had shared was listened too and received wholeheartedly. During the protest, a few of the staff ran to Jay’s Farm Stand to get fruit and water for the students occupying the third floor. We opened our doors to students. It made me incredibly proud to be part of a team that bolsters students voices, and are willing to show up to support them.  The entire Advancement team cleared their schedules for the rest of their week to focus on how to best support students durring these turbulent times.