With the start of the spring quarter, the campus community engaged in a week of events emphasizing social justice and the necessity of community unity.

In response to the murder of Daunte Wright, a Black man killed by a police officer on April 11, 2021, students and Yellow Springs residents held an off-campus gathering to connect in community and to physically recognize how mutual contributions affect one another.

And on April 20th, the Antioch College community held its traditional quarterly Community Day. Amid all the heaviness in the world, ”Community Day offers an extra opportunity to take care of each other, to feel nourished by connection, to just be—to build foundations that undermine and resist state propagated violences” wrote Community Manager Coco Gagnet ’18 in an email about the event.

Students, faculty, and staff gathered for a meal on the Horseshoe with music by June Wonn ’22 and Dillon Powell ’22 playing bass, Forest Bright (Assistant Professor of Visual Arts) on drums, and Teófilo Espada-Brignoni (Assistant Professor of Psychology) alternating from the bass to the beat pad.

At 2 o’clock, everyone transitioned from lunch to mural painting directed by Rayy Graham ’24. Every student who collaborated on this agreed on painting statements, symbols, and reminders for everyone to continuously uplift marginalized communities, including on days where there are no global social tragedies to remind us of the dangers other communities continually bear.

Written by Anna Robinson ’24, on Co-op Spring Quarter 2021 in the Office of Communications

Photos by Anna Robinson ’24 and Coco Gagnet ’18