Situated below eight clocks at the Downing Student Union that mark time around the world – in the shadow of Big Red’s newest statue – about 75 Western Kentucky University students held a nonviolent, silent protest Wednesday against perceived racism in America.

WKU senior Karlos Harbor said the protest was in light of two recent incidents, one in Ferguson, Mo., and the other in New York, each in which a black man was killed by a white police officer. In both cases, a grand jury chose not to indict the officers.

Michael Brown, 18, died in Ferguson – about 8 miles northwest of St. Louis – after being shot by a police officer. Eric Garner, 43 and a father of six, died sometime after an apparent chokehold from a police officer in New York. The second incident was captured on a video that went viral.

“This has been a long, long time coming at Western,” Harbor said of the protest.

A separate protest included a sit-in by several students near Parking Structure 1, temporarily blocking four lanes of traffic on University Boulevard, said Howard Bailey, WKU vice president of student affairs. Traffic flow was restored after 20 minutes, the dean said.

Placards displayed at the protest included “No Justice – Just Us,” “Mike Brown RIP,” “Please don’t shoot me” and “Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere!!” Several students wore black tape over their mouths as they sat cross-legged on the floor. 

Sean Hopson, a WKU graduate during last school year, used the opportunity to draw a picture of the Statue of Liberty cradling a black man, leaning his canvass on a corner of the base of the Big Red statue in the center of the commons area. Later the protest moved outside to University Boulevard.

The Ferguson case hits close to home for Harbor, who is a senior education major.

“Today, we just want for our school, for people to recognize black lives matter,” Harbor said. “We have a voice to peacefully protest.”

During the protest, one student held a sign that said #blacklivesmatter. Andrea Daniels, a graduate student from Elizabethtown, said the protest was an opportunity to raise awareness for social injustice.

“We are teaching students how to think and become responsible citizens,” said Saundra Curry Ardrey, associate professor and department head for the WKU Political Science Department. She also oversees the WKU Institute for Citizenship and Social Responsibility, where civil rights issues are explored and workshops are held to discuss methods of peaceful dissent.

“These cases are this generation’s Emmett Till,” Ardrey said, comparing them to a landmark civil rights death nearly 60 years ago.

“Fourteen-year-old Till was visiting relatives in Money, Miss., on Aug. 24, 1955, when he reportedly flirted with a white cashier at a grocery store. Four days later, two white men kidnapped Till, beat him and shot him in the head. The men were tried on murder charges, but an all-white, male jury acquitted them. Till’s murder and open casket funeral galvanized the emerging Civil Rights Movement,” according to Biography.com.

There were four ground rules for Wednesday’s student protest: It was silent; students could sit or lie down on the floor; the students were all to be in position when the protest started; and they were to take their directions from other students wearing yellow arm bands.

Harbor said the grand juries’ decisions flies in the face of the evidence in both cases. Garner died after New York Police Department Officer Daniel Pantaleo attempted to arrest him in the borough of Staten Island for allegedly selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. A video of the incident obtained by the New York Daily News appears to show Garner pleading with police, “I can’t breathe,” The Associated Press reported.

That grand jury’s decision came about a week and a half after another grand jury voted not to indict the white police officer who killed Brown in Ferguson.

The protest was “a very creative way for people to express their feelings,” said William Berry, a sophomore sports management and advertising major from Scottsville. Berry serves on the WKU Student Government Association Senate and was not part of the protest, though Wednesday he contacted people on social media to let them know about the protest.

Mariah Tibbs, a senior chemistry major from Nashville, said the protest was a chance to promote humanity and good will. “Racism is real,” she said.

Barrett Wright, a second-year graduate student in the Religion Department and pastor at First Baptist Church in Scottsville, said the two verdicts have racial implications.

Wright said he’s concerned the confrontations between black men and white police officers have resulted in fatalities.

“This problem is a heart issue,” Wright said. “The answer is Jesus Christ and His teachings.”

— Follow education reporter Chuck Mason on Twitter at twitter.com/bgdnschools or visit bgdailynews.com.