Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
'Charlottesville might be changed for me forever': Students contemplate return to school after rally
Grade Point
‘Charlottesville might be changed for me forever’: Students contemplate return to school after deadly rally
By Susan Svrluga, T. Rees Shapiro and Sarah Larimer August 14 at 7:44 PM
White nationalist groups march with torches through the University of Virginia campus. (Mykal McEldowney/Indianapolis Star/AP)
Ian Nakayama had been looking forward to the start of the school year at the University of Virginia — catching up with friends, a block party, classes starting next week. When he learned that white nationalists planned a rally in Charlottesville, he was angry and made sure to get to town early to protest them.
But last weekend — after seeing people carrying torches through campus shouting slurs, after witnessing increasingly violent confrontations and being thrown to the ground as a car sped into a crowd and killed a woman — Nakayama bolted out of town. At every stoplight on the way home to Alexandria, he looked out the car window, worried other drivers might be white supremacists.
“It was the most terrified I’ve ever been in my entire life,” said Nakayama, 20, who is Japanese American. He knows he needs to return to U-Va., but he said the city and campus no longer feel safe. “I don’t know if I can handle that.”
As the new school year approaches, some students are scared to go back. Some, like Wes Gobar, president of the Black Student Alliance, are determined to reclaim the campus as a place welcoming to all. Some, like computer-science major Oronde Andrews, believe that the school is essentially safe, although targeted by outsiders, and that the best response to the national tensions is to focus on their own educations.
....
Susan Svrluga is a reporter for the Washington Post, covering higher education for the Grade Point blog. Follow @SusanSvrluga
T. Rees Shapiro is an education reporter. Follow @TReesShapiro
Sarah Larimer is a general assignment reporter for the Washington Post. Follow @slarimer
‘Charlottesville might be changed for me forever’: Students contemplate return to school after deadly rally
By Susan Svrluga, T. Rees Shapiro and Sarah Larimer August 14 at 7:44 PM
White nationalist groups march with torches through the University of Virginia campus. (Mykal McEldowney/Indianapolis Star/AP)
Ian Nakayama had been looking forward to the start of the school year at the University of Virginia — catching up with friends, a block party, classes starting next week. When he learned that white nationalists planned a rally in Charlottesville, he was angry and made sure to get to town early to protest them.
But last weekend — after seeing people carrying torches through campus shouting slurs, after witnessing increasingly violent confrontations and being thrown to the ground as a car sped into a crowd and killed a woman — Nakayama bolted out of town. At every stoplight on the way home to Alexandria, he looked out the car window, worried other drivers might be white supremacists.
“It was the most terrified I’ve ever been in my entire life,” said Nakayama, 20, who is Japanese American. He knows he needs to return to U-Va., but he said the city and campus no longer feel safe. “I don’t know if I can handle that.”
As the new school year approaches, some students are scared to go back. Some, like Wes Gobar, president of the Black Student Alliance, are determined to reclaim the campus as a place welcoming to all. Some, like computer-science major Oronde Andrews, believe that the school is essentially safe, although targeted by outsiders, and that the best response to the national tensions is to focus on their own educations.
....
Susan Svrluga is a reporter for the Washington Post, covering higher education for the Grade Point blog. Follow @SusanSvrluga
T. Rees Shapiro is an education reporter. Follow @TReesShapiro
Sarah Larimer is a general assignment reporter for the Washington Post. Follow @slarimer
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
