Introduction

Lyrics from Woody Guthrie’s song, The Blinding of Isaac Woodard: “It’s now you’ve heard my story, there’s one thing I can’t see, How you could treat a human like they have treated me; I thought I fought on the islands to get rid of their kind; But I can see the fight lots plainer now that I am blind.”

Each year, Avila selects a common reading for our first year students. Typically, students have the summer to read the selected book and respond with an essay prior to the start of class. However, this book was different. We waited to give the book to our students until classes began in August due to its sensitive and difficult content. The Common Reading Program Committee began looking for a book that had a focus on President Harry S. Truman because the year of 2021 represented the 50th anniversary of Harry S. Truman giving Avila University the rights to have a lecture in his name. As we searched, we were alerted to book by Richard Gergel titled, Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Woodard and the Awakening of America. We knew this would be a massive undertaking. This is a difficult book to read and process. We knew it could trigger expected or unexpected feelings and we wanted to help students work through these feelings. Richard Gergel who is a judge in South Carolina learned of the story of Sargent Isaac Woodard because Woodard’s story connected with Judge Waties Waring. Gergel was the predecessor of Judge Waring and found the story of Woodard in the courthouse archives. The story involved the brutal beating of Woodard by a police officer in South Carolina as he returned from WWII. The beating left Woodard, a heroic veteran of WWII, blinded. Woodard’s story moved Waring and Truman. It was Woodard’s story of racism and discrimination that propelled Truman and Waring to change their perspectives on civil rights in America. This, in turn, had an impact on many of the laws in our country. This book was not the story of Sargent Isaac Woodard but the story of Truman and Waring. The perspective draws from civil rights legislation in the United States and ultimately helps set the stage for Brown vs. Board of Education and desegregation in the United States.

As stated in our mission, Avila prepares learners who will contribute to the global community and our values state the importance of the worth, dignity and potential of each human being as well as right relationship with self and others. Justice for all is a topic of global concern and importance. Topics related to racism and social justice were studied throughout the fall semester by our first year students. This publication serves as the culmination of multiple experiences shared among our first year students (Appendix A) on issues of racism and social justice. Within this publication are the Culminating Projects of several of Avila’s first year students. It is our hope that through the curriculum in First Year Seminar, students develop individualized and educated thoughts and opinions on the subjects studied and will become change agents for the world. Some of the experiences that led to these culminating projects are outlined in this introduction. The University dedicates the Harry S. Truman Distinguished Lecture to the selected book and on October 25, 2021 Avila was honored to welcome Richard Gergel, United States District Judge and author of Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Woodard and the Awakening of America (Appendix B). Due to the pandemic we were not able to welcome the greater Kansas City community but we enjoyed a smaller audience of Avila students, faculty, staff, trustees and donors. Gergel showcased his research that evolved into the book that shared the details of Sargent Isaac Woodard’s horrific experience of racism as he returned home from WWII. Gergel also shared how this event changed the perspective of Harry S. Truman which led to significant changes in the on-going pursuit of racial justice. Other highlights of the semester included three particular events that seemed to greatly impact our first year students. Sara Eckinger, Director of Student Support Services, shared her expertise and conducted Bystander Training. She shared that when harm is being inflicted upon another you have choices for action depending on your level of comfort… direct, distract, delay, and/or delegate. Secondly, the wonderful Jabraan Pasha, MD, helped us lean in to discover our own implicit biases and how we can reduce these biases within ourselves. Lastly, Kaliyah Meriwether, Coordinator of the Buchanan Initiative for Peace and Nonviolence, helped us to understand what we can do as individuals to create positive change. Students are encouraged to be creative with The Culminating Project in First Year Seminar. Students can write a traditional essay or create a unique personal project such as the creation of a poem, song, piece of artwork, etc. The project helps students explore the complex issues surrounding the topics of racism and social justice and explore their role and responsibility in the issues through a peaceful and nonviolent means. These projects are a direct reflection of the multiple experiences in First Year Seminar including the classroom curriculum as well as the common reading and the Harry S. Truman Distinguished Lecture. I hope these experiences and this publication can help move us closer to being a better community for all races and ethnicities. I also hope it can move us closer to the Avila mission and values by contributing positively to our global community and underscoring the importance of the worth, dignity and potential of each human being as well as right relationship with self and others.

Peace,

Paige Illum, Ph.D., CSJA

Director of Student Engagement and Success Adjunct Faculty Avila University

“I have decided to stick with love.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Avila Community Values

e Excellence in teaching and learning e The worth, dignity, and potential of each human being e Diversity and its expression e The development of the whole person e Right relationships, with God, self, others, and creation e Service with the dear neighbor