Messages of Hope

After the election, the climate of the country has been anything but stable. The Salem State community has attempted to make this campus a safe space, however, and there have been multiple ways in which the campus has addressed this. Along with emails informing the community that SSU cannot tolerate hate and bias, the student involvement and activites office has taken it upon themselves to make a statement.

The theme of #ChangeMakersWeek was letting your voice be heard. As stated below, we have given multiple outlets to raise our voice. One of these outlets was hosting Dear World during Leadership Weekend. The Dear World project travels across various college campuses, conferences, and more to find the stories inside people and tell them to the world.  They have covered Hurricane Katrina, the Boston Marathon bombings, and more.

Even if you don’t know someone at all, hearing a simple story from them can shed some insight on their true selves. Stories bring people together, even in the darkest of times. At the Student Leadership Conference on Sunday, we heard the stories behind five students’ pictures. Though not everyone knew those students personally, the crowd had the privilege of hearing a few deeply personal stories about them, giving us all a sense of closeness.

Here are examples of outlets available to the campus community:

Campus-wide “brave space” sessions were held to open up the conversation in a non-judgmental space.

The Student Involvement office recorded videos of students committing to not tolerating hate and bias.

The Student Involvement office gave opportunities for students to leave messages of hope on sticky notes in the campus center.

Students, faculty, and staff were given the opportunity to tell their stories through the “Dear World” campaign.