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Historic Human Chain for Change............................ By Kate J. Drake '99 ............................ |
On November 21, virtually the entire Smith community stood in the cold, bright sunshine and joined hands to form a human circle around the campus. The goal of the "Human Chain for Change," the brainchild of eight Smith students, was to unite students, faculty and staff in an action condemning hatred and bigotry. The hard work of organizing and promoting the event was accomplished in an amazingly brief time: only 10 days elapsed after the Sessions House lunch at which it was conceived until the hands were actually linked. Crystal Daugherty '98, who was in charge of logistics and publicity for the operation, calculated it would take 1,840 people joining hands to complete the chain. To ensure continuous linkage, the committee planned to have lengths of twine on hand for people-sparse areas of the route. As it turned out, not many links were missing. The night before the event, members of the planning committee carefully chalked the chain's route around campus. It crossed Paradise Road and College Lane twice in order to involve all student houses, and it ran in front of the Smith College Club in order to involve the Smith faculty, many of whom would be there having lunch at the time the chain assembled. The committee also divided the campus into five zones, each one managed by Smith students who organized the people in their area into the line. Runners from each zone moved around the chain carrying the news that their zone was complete. When the notification from the last zone came, the sounds of air horns were heard from each part of the chain. The operation was complete. The committee that had planned and executed the human chain received the modest financial support they needed from the dean of the college's office and from the Student Government Association. But, more important, they received the moral support of hundreds of students, faculty and administrators, including President Ruth Simmons, all of whom "stepped up to the line" and linked hands to become one Human Chain for Change. |
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