Rochester University hosts family dinner to help end prejudice

Rochester University teamed up with End Prejudice, a Metro Detroit nonprofit organization, to host The Family Dinner event in January to highlight the importance of building a connection with others in the community to build a future without prejudice.

The Family Dinner allowed community members to share their experiences and learn about others to help inspire new connections. Those who attended the event heard from Lashaun Phoenix Moore, a singer, poet and co-director of End Prejudice; Bryce LP, a singer-songwriter; Jeremy Peters, a pastor and poet; Johdi Jackson, a singer-songwriter. Musical accompaniment was provided by keyboardist Drew Keys, drummer Dre Bell and bassist Byron Harris Jr.

The evening began with a barbecue dinner before the performers took the stage. Darcy Bennin, junior management major, attended the event and said, “Going into the event I did not know what to expect, but right from the start I was impressed by the food and the talent. I was moved by every performance.”

Detroit native Lashaun Phoenix Moore took the stage first and shared her experiences as a Black woman seeing police brutality in America. She said she responds to injustice with an attitude of forgiveness that could be “as heavy as a knee on the neck, as an utterance from the cross in the face of your murderers, as a radical act that Christ demonstrated.”

Pastor Jeremy Peters of United Methodist Church in Flint, Michigan, read two poems he wrote

“Token White Guy” and “This is not a Poem About Butterflies.”

“Token White Guy” describes white privilege from the perspective of a young Black girl. Peters said, “When you hear me speaking in that voice, I am echoing the voices of people I’ve listened to… I can’t live those experiences myself. I gotta learn from people who have.”

Alexis Krumbach, sophomore sports management major, said Peters’ poems stuck with her throughout the night. And fellow presenter Moore said about Peters: “He does so many brave things up to and including tearing down barriers and walls that have been a construct of the Methodist church. He is a rebel.”

Fellow Detroit natives Bryce LP and Johdi Jackson each performed their own music while also covering other songs that expressed their own individual stories as artists, musicians and people.

Bryce’s song “Worthy” embraces tapping into your power and light. “When you take a candle and you light it, then you light another, and another, that is what we have to do for each other,” Bryce said.

Johdi expressed her personal battle with mental health and how she found the courage to find the help she needed and embrace her worth and beauty as an individual. “I just want everybody in the room to always remember that no matter what you look like, no matter your occupation. No matter what. You are beautiful. You are worthy,” she said.

As the Family Dinner ended, Moore encouraged the crowd to connect with new people and the guests themselves after the show in hopes of creating space to end prejudice one conversation at a time.

“Hosting events that bring people together is missional for RU, plus enjoying a good meal over live music is always a good idea in my book,” said Evan Green, associate dean of students and director of intercultural and spiritual life. Brian Petty, residence hall director and student life assistant, worked with Green to coordinate the event.

Green said, “Collaborating on the event with End Prejudice is a way for RU to be good neighbors with community leaders. These efforts allow RU to support a local nonprofit doing meaningful work and support local artists.” ith over 128 mass shootings reported in the U.S. as of March 28 — and the recent attack on Michigan State University — Rochester University's students and employees have expressed concerns over the issue and want to be prepared in case a tragedy strikes at RU.

Visit www.endprejudice.org to contribute and find events in which to participate.

A "mass shooting" is defined by the Gun Violence Archive and The Guardian's mass shooting database as an attack in which a minimum of four people, not counting the gunmen, are shot or killed. The Gun Violence Archive recorded over 600 mass shootings in 2022 and tracked over 690 in 2021.

Nilla Kanjoma, a freshman studying pre-med, said she feels safe at RU "to an extent" because "the community's small. It’s still scary because it's open to anyone.” She said she is always prepared to hit an emergency button.

Detective Sergeant Kirk Simpson of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said officers would arrive at RU in minutes if an active shooter call was reported. He said he was confident the first officer who arrived would run in to help and not wait for other officers.

For that reason, he said, many deputies carry the necessary gear, such as shields and extra weaponry in their patrol cars. "The way we stop it is with a quick response and a powerful show of force,” he said.

Both students and employees at Rochester University seem conflicted over how they feel on school campuses around the area. David Sirka, an electronic resources librarian at RU, said he worries for his wife, who’s a teacher. He knows students of all ages can have access to weapons at their homes, "I've never felt unsafe working here," he said. "It could just be because we're a small school, and I know pretty much anyone that comes in and out of here.”

Rochester and Rochester Hills are among the safest cities in the state. Rochester Hills has a lower crime rate than 64% of the communities in Michigan and is safer than 69% of cities, towns and villages in America, according to Neighborhood Scout's analysis of FBI crime data from 2021.

Someone's chance of being a victim of a violent crime, such as assault, rape, murder or armed robbery is one in 1,491 people, which is below the national average for all communities of all population sizes in the U.S.

The chance of being the victim of a crime including non-violent crime, violent crime and property crime, combined is one in 161. In the U.S., the chance of being the victim of a crime is one in 43. Crime in Rochester Hills is one of the lowest in the nation for a community of its size.

What is the university doing to mitigate students' unease? According to Jacob Lawless, director of operations, RU's strategies align with other institutions' active attacker protocols. "We do have a safe campus. It's statistically safe here and we have a great partner in the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office that is able to assist us in the event of emergencies."

The Oakland County Sheriff’s officers that Lawless refers to, receive quarterly training on active shooter scenarios. Some of that training includes acting out scenarios with modified firearms, role players and proctors. The training is also designed to emulate the unit sizes of those responding to a call.

Additionally, RU holds occasional walkthroughs on campus where officers can familiarize themselves with campus, Simpson said.

RU held a lockdown drill on March 23 to prepare employees and students in case of a threat. Lawless also said classroom doors have deadbolt locks and that RU is looking into acquiring more Barracuda Interior Defense Systems for select rooms. The Barracuda system is a door security device that can quickly be deployed and is designed to prevent doors from opening in the case of an incident, along with other locking devices.

Lawless said the university utilizes alert systems on campus. Omnalert is a text message, app and notification system that sends notifications to students, staff and faculty via voice, text, email, RSS and desktop alerts. Alerts can be sent via campuswide email, RU app, student portals and the website. Some buildings have public address systems.

Simpson said the best thing people can do is be cognizant of people around them and pay attention to people in their lives. "Most active shooters involving random killings, somebody else knew the person was troubled or had ideations and failed to report it." If someone notices something odd or knows of someone with these ideations, speaking up could save lives.

Students, faculty and staff can learn more about RU's active shooter protocol via the RU website. Residential students can find an emergency guide on the back of their dorm doors, along with posters located on campus. Residential assistants can learn more in their RA handbook.

DANIELLE CASTILLO ONLINE CONTENT DIRECTOR