61 PI THETA PHI PHIGHTING RACIAL INJUSTICE Women’s social club Pi Theta Phi introduces a summer social media series to raise awareness of racial injustice. In spring 2020, the death of George Floyd spurred a chain of events across the nation, reaching the Harding community. Student organizations and social clubs searched for ways to amplify the voices of Black students at Harding during the period of change. Women’s social club Pi Theta Phi (PTP) followed fellow women’s social club Phi Kappa Delta (PKD)’s lead to promote Black Lives Matter on social media. “We really weren’t sure what to do because we didn’t want to make a political statement, but we also wanted our Black brothers and sisters to know we support them,” PTP Vice President Anna Farris said. “We knew there might be backlash but the potential to do good outweighed the potential for backlash. We tried to keep the post based on humanity as opposed to politics. It was more about telling stories and bringing these realities to light than trying to make a political statement.” President Katelyn Allen and Vice Presidents Anna Farris and Jessica Hackett, seniors, collaborated to establish the way the club would approach the subject. Allen decided to create a series on Instagram to bring awareness to the reality of racism by highlighting real experiences of PTP members. “I was advocating on my own, but it didn’t really occur to me to use PTP’s Instagram platform until I saw PKD post about it,” Allen said. “Once I saw and read their post, I texted Anna and Jessica suggesting using our platform as PTP for the movement. We decided to ask POC women and a beau to speak about their Black experience.” The series served as the voice for the Black men and women of PTP and publicized the existence of racism in the Harding community. The presidents and vice presidents made the executive decision to use the club’s platform to speak out despite the potential of opposing viewpoints. “I think the Instagram series was a great way to let our members of color voice their opinions,” junior Sophia Toth said. “I think there’s a lot more we as individuals should do for what we believe in rather than using a social club for political purposes. We as individuals should take the initiative for what we believe in.” Despite differences, the PTP series allowed students of color to share their stories of racism in the community of Harding. The series provided hope to Black students and courage to other students to advocate for the cause. “The way PTP affected me by sharing people’s stories was amazing,” senior PTP secretary Logan Luster said. “It was nice to see everyone’s point of view. I didn’t know how other people in PTP felt about racial injustice. PTP wanted to make sure that our voices were heard. We all had different points of view and came from different backgrounds. To highlight the experiences of the Black community meant a lot to me, and it made me realize that my voice needs to be heard especially during this time in history.” story by Hannah Kellum and Holland Chupek
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