Anna Gorman, Campus Carrier news editor

Civil rights activist and icon Ruby Bridges, best known as the first African American child to attend a formerly segregated elementary school, spoke Monday in the College Chapel. Her speaking even is part of the Conson Wilson Lecture Series, hosted by the Office of Belonging and Community Engagement and sponsored by the GHD Foundation.

The event was open to the public and saw overwhelmingly positive reception from the Berry and Rome community. According to Chief Belonging and Community Engagement Officer Haley Smith, interest was voiced from the Rome-Floyd community since this event was announced last year.

“We’ve heard from all sorts of people wanting to buy tickets [who] have been floored that we’re not selling tickets and that it’s completely free for people to come,” Smith said. “It’s been really cool to hear so many students say, ‘I know who Bridges is. I’ve watched that movie, I’ve seen that painting’ [“The Problem We All Live With” by Norman Rockwell]. It’s been very loud in a positive way.”

The event was held in the College Chapel and was simulcast in Krannert to offer more seating, with both locations full before the event started at 10 a.m. There was a line outside of the chapel at 9 a.m.

This year also marks the 60th anniversary of racial integration at Berry, and one of the college’s first Black graduates, Beverly Smith (69c), was also present.

“One, I think that who [Bridges] is is very connected to the concept of Being Love and being active in the community,” Haley Smith said. “The other side of this is [that] our 60th anniversary of racial integration at Berry, and to me there’s very few people in the United States that represent the challenging time of what was happening in the United States and the imagery than Ruby Bridges.”

According to Smith, the Office of Belonging and Community Engagement had been having conversations with Bridges’s team for over a year through its partnership with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, also known as the King Center, located in Atlanta and built in 1968 to preserve the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

“There are so many partners on campus and off campus to make these kinds of events happen,” Smith said. “We have really good partners on campus, partners in Academic Affairs and with the Conson Wilson Lecture Series. The athletic department has been really helpful in this. [Our] advancement team has been critically helpful in this. We also have an external partner in the organization called GHD. They have all made this possible.”

The event opened with a routine from the Oasis Pinxx, a young African American girls’ dance group from Rome, who all danced in T-shirts with a picture of a young Bridges on the front. Bridges was then interviewed by a Berry student in the front of the Chapel, where Bridges told her story.

During her event, Bridges spoke on the impact her teacher, Barbara Henry, had on her. Throughout the event, Bridges referred to Henry as her best friend to this day. While protests continued outside of the school, Henry devoted all of her attention to teaching Bridges and would try to distract her from the noise outside.

“We’d hear the people yelling outside and Ms. Henry would say, ‘We’re having music today,’” Bridges said. Henry would then play music during lessons to drown out the noise.

Bridges also spoke about her childlike innocence being the only thing protecting her from the reality of her situation, as the first Black student to enroll in an integrated school. She said her parents never told her the people protesting outside the school were there to harm her, and she thought that was the best decision they had ever made.

“A six-year-old wouldn’t think that,” Bridges said.

Bridges talked greatly about her family’s experiences with racial discrimination and violence, from her father being denied work despite being a decorated soldier, to her son, who was killed in a street shooting in 2005. Her words led to applause and tears from the audience as well as a standing ovation at the end.

“A part of why I love her story is one, yes, understanding how far we’ve come as a society, how far we still need to go, but also her approach,” Smith said. “She talks about things very much rooted in ‘How are we thinking about our neighbor? How are we humanizing our neighbor? How are we loving our neighbor?’ So I think that her message is absolutely connected to being a good neighbor and understanding and walking through differences. I think she’s a great example of what we want our students to be.”

Smith considers Bridges to be launching Be Love Week, which is completely inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision.

“What you see publicly – this wonderful human being – she really is like that,” Smith said. “It’s been spectacular to work with her and her team, because what she represents is also what you see out of the public. So that’s been really meaningful, working with her, especially as somebody who carries being the personification of racial integration in the South and in the school systems.”

Inauguration Day took place on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, as well, which was met with some unease across the Berry and Rome community. Bridges’s event ended an hour before President Donald Trump was sworn in, and his second term continues to be a source of anxiety for much of the Berry population.

Smith said the Inauguration falling on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day should be seen as an opportunity to continue discussing community and being a good neighbor, and not as a challenge or inhibitor to these discussions.

“It’s really kind of the perfect time to have these kinds of conversations and to have Ms. Bridges here,” Smith said.