(Photo: June 2019 – Distinguished Eastern University Alum, Bryan Stevenson ‘81 and Campolo Center Executive Director, Robert Gauthier ‘08, at the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) offices in Montgomery, AL)
• • • • •
Greetings in Christ, friend, and co-laborer in love, justice, and ministry,
It’s our hope and prayer that you and your loved ones are in good health and spirits, even during these trying and uncertain days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, we are acutely aware that there is another disease that plagues our society and is especially harmful to our BIPOC brothers and sisters.
We’ve been listening and praying. Our Campolo Scholars of color are helping to guide us during these turbulent and painful times. Last Friday, Tony participated in a community-wide virtual event, Day of Grief, Lament, and Hope for our Nation, Eastern University, and Ourselves, initiated by Eastern’s President, Dr. Ron Matthews. We’ve temporarily postponed our weekly segments of Keeping the Faith in the Corona Era out of respect and support for these current discussions taking place across our country concerning racial equality… and to honor those who have lost their lives to injustice.
If we can’t name it, then we don’t see it. And if we don’t see it, then we’re part of the problem.
Rather than detract from these vitally important conversations, we hope now to share resources to educate ourselves and help us grapple with these complex, emotional and consequential issues. We firmly believe that it is our responsibility to do the hard work of interrogating our nation’s history of racism in order to truly grasp the deadly ramifications of this social ill and structural sin. Only then can we achieve the racial justice and reconciliation required to form a more perfect union in our churches and communities.
Please join us in praying and working toward naming and repenting of this sin and dismantling the ideologies and institutions that support racism.
I encourage you to follow this link for free access to HELPFUL RESOURCES from Tony’s students and Eastern alums.
Yours gratefully,
Robert Gauthier, Executive Director