Baylor University Rallies Around Student Shoved Off Sidewalk, Called Racial Slur

WACO, TX — "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that," Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once famously said. "Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Students at Baylor University at Waco have employed the tactics of love to combat a recent incident of hate on campus, rallying around a student who was shoved off a sidewalk on college grounds by a suspect who said "I'm just trying to make America great again," a reference to the election slogan used by Donald Trump in reaching the presidency, the victim later recalled.

The aggressor is said to have used a racial slur when he told the student that black people were not allowed on the sidewalk after shoving her, the student said, recalling how the assailant used the epithet hurled against black people.

The aggrieved student, Natasha Nkhama, conveyed details on the Nov. 9 incident in a videotaped recording posted on Twitter. Since then, the hashtag campaign #IWalkWithNatasha has been launched on Twitter, and her fellow students, staff, faculty, administrators and random members of the community have walked with the student on campus to prevent further aggression.

Sadly, this isn't the first case of racism to rear its ugly head on the Baylor campus. In a joint statement, student leaders said this was just the latest incident with racist overtones to occur on university grounds.

"Our community is hurting as we learn more about, and begin our response to, a series of racially motivated incidents on campus," the Baylor University student leaders wrote. "We strongly support Baylor University’s statement condemning this behavior towards members of our community while reaffirming our commitment to our values of diversity, safety, and civil discourse."

Amid the post-election timbre — a climate that has spread throughout the country in the wake of divisive political rhetoric — the students said they were gratified at the response of support since Nkhama shared her story.

"The #IWalkWithNatasha March yesterday morning was a beautiful step towards reconciliation," they wrote. "The participants modeled what we know about and hope for Baylor University…that we are a diverse, caring community that supports one another as fellow Bears." they added, alluding to the school's mascot.

For their part, university officials have condemned the incident. Baylor University President David E. Garland participated in one of the walks to comfort Nkhama and applauded the effort.

"The 'Walk with Tasha' this morning was an amazing experience for me," he wrote in a statement after participating. "A large crowd of Baylor students, staff, faculty, administration, and members from the Waco community represented the core values of Baylor University under the Lordship of Christ. There was a wonderful line in the prayer by Christian Broussard before the walk: 'When things are hard, we choose love.' "

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