The Charger Blog

University Community Unites to Fight Injustice

The recent Upstander Walk brought together students, faculty, and staff to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging, while condemning injustice of all kinds.

April 24, 2023

By Renee Chmiel, Office of Marketing and Communications

Chargers walk in unity during the Upstander Walk.
Chargers walk in unity during the Upstander Walk.

Throughout her time as a Charger, Mary Lippa 23 has been committed to fostering unity and respect. She was recently part of a University-wide initiative that brought Chargers together to walk in solidarity with each other and to reinforce the Universitys values.

Hosted by the Myatt Center for Diversity and Inclusion, the Upstander Walk was a meaningful event that promoted diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging (DEIAB). As part of the event, members of the University community including Lippa shared their own stories and experiences.

A member of the Universitys Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) student ambassadors program, Lippa discussed the importance of showing respect and support for members of the LGBTQ+ community. She described the challenges that members of the LGBTQ+ community face, and she emphasized the importance of promoting safety and inclusivity from using correct pronouns to supporting access to gender-affirming care.

To promote inclusivity and safe spaces, we must examine where we fall flat, she said. The University can and does create a culture that is knowledgeable. I encourage everyone not to be bystanders. Help members of the LGBTQ+ community find safety and elevate their voices. And to members of the LGBTQ+ community: You are loved at the University.

Mary Lippa 23 speaks to her fellow Chargers during the event.
Mary Lippa 23 speaks to her fellow Chargers during the event.
Make the world a better place

The Upstander Walk was an opportunity for Chargers to walk in unity as a symbol of community solidarity against all injustices including those pertaining to social, racial, and economic factors. Before the walk began, Ashley Dunn, assistant dean of student support, explained the importance of being an upstander one who speaks up and intervenes if an individual is bullied or attacked versus a bystander, who does not get involved.

We must be willing to stand up and speak up, to amplify others voices, she said. We must make a commitment to choose action when others are in need. As a community and as an institution of higher education, we must choose advocacy and action.

The event brought together dozens of Chargers students, faculty, and staff who united to show their support. The group included Sheahon Zenger, Ph.D., interim president, who reflected on the value of words such as ally and belonging, as well as the importance of coming together as a community.

I look out today at people I consider to be friends, and it takes a friend to be a friend, said Dr. Zenger, who, in addition to celebrating unity and community, was also celebrating a birthday. What if we just treated everyone as a friend? Wed be a friend and wed help. Lets embrace love and friendship. Wouldnt that make the world a better place? Isnt that what this event is about?

The event brought participants to the Charger statue.
The event brought participants to the Charger statue.
It is about action

Starting in the Maxcy Quad, the walk brought Chargers around the central part of campus, stopping in front of Anemone and Steven Kaplan Hall, the Charger statue, and at a gazebo near Sheffield Hall, before ending at the Myatt Center.

Timothy Prince, coordinator for leadership in the Myatt Center who planned the event, was encouraged by how many Chargers took part in the walk. He hopes this event will continue to strengthen the foundation for inclusivity at the University.

I hope everyone learned that upstander isnt about doing just one thing, and that it is about action, he said. We are all different in beautiful ways, and I hope we can celebrate that rather than letting it divide us.

Faculty, staff, and students came together to condemn all kinds of injustice.
Faculty, staff, and students came together to condemn all kinds of injustice.

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