Following the March 31 events of the lockdown and tragic death of Bluffton police officer Dominic Francis, students are reflecting on their personal experiences.
Anton Miller in Bob’s Place. Photo by Aspyn Rafac.
Anton Miller, a sophomore history education major describes their experience as a person of color during the incident.
“I will say the most terrifying part of the lockdown was when either Lima or Toledo news released the description of the suspect,” said Miller. “When I saw the description of an African American male in a black hoodie and gray sweatpants, I was immediately terrified because not only does that describe a pretty decent population of people on campus but anyone could unknowingly profile any innocent person of color.”
Miller felt that the email and notifications that Bluffton sent out notifying students to not dress in this type of clothing was really helpful in easing some of their personal fears and concerns. Miller said they were grateful because not everyone knew about the news articles from local stations giving descriptions of the suspects.
“It was a bit of a sigh of relief for me because at least the university cares and is aware enough to recognize that there are a lot of students on this campus who could’ve been profiled with that description,” said Miller.
Freshman business major Kerryon Boykin in Ropp Hall. Photo by Aspyn Rafac.
Kerryon Boykin, a freshman business major, also reflected on his experiences with the lockdown as a person of color. Boykin expressed his lack of surprise at the suspect description.
“When I heard what happened I had already expected the suspect to be a black man,” said Boykin. “It didn’t really affect me that much just because of the place that I grew up. It was normal to me.”
Clay Quellhorst, a junior business major, had a unique experience as an RA in Ropp Hall. Quellhorst admitted to being scared at first, but felt more secure and safe in the situation the more information was given.
“As an RA I felt adequately prepared to handle a situation like this,” said Quellhorst. “Even though it’s something that you never really expect to happen. But my experience was unique because I constantly need to make the safety of my residents a priority.”
Robin Bowlus. Photo courtesy Bluffton University Public Relations.
Robin Bowlus gave The Wit this statement via email regarding the safety choices Bluffton made during the lockdown.
“I felt it was critical to share the details of what the suspect was wearing with all students, faculty and staff. First, it is a commonly worn outfit combination by many of our students and the first part of the message addressed that for all students. Second, I recognized that our male, African American students, may think ‘well I’m not the suspect’ and not take seriously what they were wearing when going to lunch. My hope by sending the second part of the message was to get them, or their friends, to pause and think that in that moment, dressed in that outfit and walking or running across campus to The Commons, they could easily be mistaken as fitting the profile of the suspect, especially by law enforcement who are not familiar with our campus or frightened Village residents who are looking out their windows.”
Miller also wanted to share their thoughts in respect to the late officer Francis and the outlooks of students following these events.
“I think it’s important that going forward as we reflect and communicate about the situation we make sure not to let what happened be politicized because it’s really disrespectful to one another, but also officer Francis and his loved ones.”
