BSU organizes sit-in on Capitol Hill vigil

Chapman’s Fish Interfaith Center hosted a vigil for the Chapman community to come together, following the Jan. 6 insurrection of Capitol Hill. Photo courtesy of Ramya Sinha

After watching the violence of the Jan. 6 insurrection of Capitol Hill unfold from her television screen, Gail Stearns, dean of Chapman University’s Wallace All Faiths Chapel, thought students might be feeling traumatized or alone. Thus, she helped organize a vigil that same night through the Fish Interfaith Center, featuring a candle lighting and prayer service for students and faculty to join over Zoom. The goal was to provide students a sense of unity and community after the dividing events, she said. 

The vigil did become a source of unity, but one that would position students against senior staff and administration. 

Many students were upset with former Chapman law professor John Eastman’s speech at a Jan. 6 rally in support of former President Donald Trump, urging protesters to continue challenging the results of the presidential election. Thus, many were hoping to voice those concerns at the vigil, especially considering Chapman President Daniele Struppa was attending. However, when students joined the Zoom meeting, they quickly realized their microphones and the chat feature had been disabled. 

“The vigil was only 15 minutes long and only Struppa could talk,” said Ramya Sinha, an attendee and president of Chapman’s Black Student Union (BSU). “Struppa always talks about free speech — then we get into spaces like this and free speech only applies to him.”

Struppa told The Panther he was simply at the vigil to give an opening speech and he himself had no control over the microphones, as the event wasn’t hosted by him.

Approximately 115 students were in attendance, many of whom appeared in front of Zoom backgrounds with banners that displayed the words “No justice, no peace” and “The hypocrisy,” highlighting expressed disappointment with the administration’s perceived failure to condemn the actions of Eastman. None of the vigil’s speakers acknowledged the banners.

Although the chat feature was disabled, a link to a Padlet wall was provided near the end of the event where students could leave comments. Students began bombarding the Padlet chat, leaving messages such as “Allow the student body to use their voices,” “Condemn white supremacy,” and “Fire Eastman.” According to Sinha, many comments were quickly deleted, and approximately an hour later the Padlet itself was deleted. 

After the event, BSU posted screenshots of the student comments to their Instagram page, sharing their displeasure toward the administration for “(shutting) down actual student voices.” 

Stearns initially told The Panther Jan. 28 that the Fish Interfaith Center decided to disable microphones and the chat feature due to prior incidents of supremacists and extremists joining their events because of their religious affiliation, saying, “We often are actually targeted.” A day later, in response to a clarification email, Stearns told The Panther that no Zoom meetings had actually been targeted yet, but the chat and microphones were instead disabled as a preemptive measure.

A few days after the vigil, Director of Church Relations Nancy Brink attended a BSU meeting to express her apologies regarding the students’ disappointment of the vigil. 

“I understand that (the vigil organizers) may not have had bad intent,” Sinha said. “But they still should have been more conscientious.” 

Student Government Association President Philip Goodrich, who was also in attendance at the vigil, said he believes in students’ voices being heard. Student government is partnered with BSU to help expedite their 12-item action plan and achieve a more equitable campus. He told The Panther that some modifications could have been made to open up the online event into a larger discussion.

“The banners and the sentiments that were given were productive in sending a message that there’s a growing frustration, specifically with the Eastman situation,” Goodrich said. “I wish there was a more productive dialogue because on one hand, there was no conversation about the banners or what message the students were trying to send; on the other, the vigil couldn’t be executed because of the protest that occurred.”