By: Jonathan Franklin, Senior Writer and Essence Buckman, Staff Writer

Among the activities and events happening on campus for Black History Month this year, Wofford in conjunction with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion hosted “What is the Black Lives Matter Movement,” featuring guest speaker and community activist Derrick Quarles.

This event, held on Tuesday, Feb. 9, allowed the campus community to learn more about the Black Lives Matter movement and asked several key questions surrounding the movement including: “What do you know about the Black Lives Matter movement?” “Have you heard about it in the Media?” or even “Is it a hate group?”

“I loved it. I didn’t know much about the movement beforehand, but afterwards I saw how important and necessary this movement is,” says sophomore Katilyn Britt.

Senior Joe James agrees.

“It was a very productive and informative meeting with a message that I hope the rest of campus comes to listen to one day soon,” says James.

The movement, created in 2012 after the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, is an international activist movement founded by activist and writer Alicia Garza, campaigning against violence toward black people, but also focusing on broader issues of police brutality, racial profiling, as well as racial inequality in the United States criminal justice system.

The movement has chapters – both on the collegiate level and city wide – across the country, with the recent forming of the Upstate chapter just down the road in Greenville.

“I think our campus needs exposure to issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement. Events and programming such as this will broaden the horizons of our campus community and will get those who are uninformed about this movement and other social justice movements to spark a conversation amongst their peers,” says senior Bradley Tidwell.

With the recent formation of the Upstate chapter, Black Lives Matter activists in the chapter are hoping to bring a potential chapter to Wofford, having it become the first collegiate chapter in the upstate.

“I think it is needed. Black students are a minority on campus and it would bring awareness to this issue and to other issues that are of importance to the black students on campus,” says freshman Alexis Eaton.

Freshman Breeze Jackson agrees with Eaton.

“I would definitely join if a chapter was brought to campus. Being at a predominately white institution such as Wofford, issues surrounding the movement aren’t discussed in the classroom and this potential bridge that would be built would be a stepping stone for conversation that our campus should be having,” says Jackson.