All Together

Yesterday I had the pleasure of having lunch with Chon and Earl.  Now anyone who knows the two of them knows these aren’t just ordinary individuals, so this definitely wasn’t an ordinary lunch. Chon (pronounced: shôn), or Dr. Glover, is William & Mary’s beloved Director of Multicultural Affairs & Assistant to the President, and Earl Granger is the university’s humorously sarcastic Associate Provost for Enrollment.  It’s not uncommon to see a student casually hanging out or having lunch with either of them. In fact, most faculty and staff at William & Mary are extremely down-to-earth.  Besides being good at what they do, they take a very genuine interest in the lives of students and quickly become more like family.

Instead of meeting in the Marketplace or at a nearby restaurant, the three of us went to the Williamsburg Public Library for the “Brown Paper Bag Lunch” hosted by All Together, a local community group Chon and Earl are both a part of.  All Together is a diverse organization whose members meet regularly to candidly and openly discuss race and race-related issues.  This was the first time I had ever attended one of their events.  As soon as I walked into the room, I quickly realized I was the youngest one there (by a lot), but that didn’t stop me from feeling welcomed and comfortable.  There were several professors from William & Mary there, as well as a lot of community members I know from the local church I attend and from the local NAACP.  William & Mary’s very own Provost, Geoffrey Feiss, is actually an officer in All Together. Even though he wasn’t at yesterday’s session, just finding out he was involved made me an even prouder William & Mary student.

There were about thirty people total.  The group had a facilitator that ensured that everyone was able to express their thoughts.  There was also an invited guest speaker who led the discussion.  The topic: The Role of the Black Church.  I sat there the entire time just eating my Lenny’s sandwich not saying a word.  I pretty much just sat there in awe of what I was seeing.  Most of the people around that table had probably never attended an integrated school, yet they were willing to sit down and discuss such a sensitive, but important topic.  I thought, “If they can do it, so can we.”  At the end, the facilitator asked the group “What will you take away from today’s conversation?”  I can’t think of a better closing question.

As soon as I got back to campus I ran into Meghan – a good friend of mine who’s white – and excitedly told her about where I had just been.  She actually got mad at me for not inviting her to go!  (She’ll definitely be going with me next time.)  The two of us also agreed that once school started, we were going to get William & Mary students “all together.”