Winthrop students, staff ‘face hate with love’ in Blue and White ceremony

Friday morning’s “Blue and White” remembrance ceremony at Winthrop University was an example of “an outpouring of support and unity” for the loved ones of the nine people shot to death last week inside Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church.

Nearly 200 people gathered at Winthrop’s Little Chapel at 9 a.m. as part of a statewide effort called “Blue and White Friday.” The movement was largely organized on social media sites to encourage people to display the blue and white South Carolina flag and to wear blue and white colors, in memory of the victims.

Forty-eight students, professors, and others volunteered to hold blue and white placards to form an image of the state flag, while others gathered in a circle around it to show support.

At 9:09 a.m., chimes sounded over a speaker system for each of the nine shooting victims, followed by the hymn “Amazing Grace.”

Nothing can undo the killings and the tragedy that happened in Charleston, Winthrop’s Acting President Debra Boyd said, but she encouraged the crowd to look and move forward.

“Face ignorance with education, face fear with fortitude and face hate with love,” she said.

The Winthrop ceremony sought to advocate “for tolerance in a world that seems increasingly intolerant,” she said.

Boyd said appreciating diversity has been a key component of the Winthrop experience.

Alumnus Jay Karen posted on Facebook this week that during his four years at Winthrop, he lived, played and worked with others of various backgrounds, colors, sexualities and political persuasions.

“Only from these experiences, he said, did he have the courage to go outside of his comfort zone and truly get to know and appreciate people who are not like him,” Boyd said.

This story was originally published June 26, 2015 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Winthrop students, staff ‘face hate with love’ in Blue and White ceremony."