" Walk in Peace, Learn Through Love"

   On October 15, 2013 a group of about 80 students, professors, and community member gathered in front of Old Main to march for peace. The group carried signs and wore shirts that promoted unity and peace in the community. The designer of the shirts, Roland Lovett, said “it’s great to see my design on the shirts and around campus, I was glad to help promote peace.” FSU’s intercultural communications class helped in the planning of the march and many attended.

Designer Roland Lovett and Community member Laura McBride

The march started at Old main and lead up to a Community Dialogue Session at the Lyric Theater on Main Street. Marvin Johnson a native of Baltimore started off the evening introducing different groups that the individuals that participate in the dialogue use to reach out to the community members. One of the groups that were formed was the Bridge group. Bridge helps connect students to different families in Frostburg, it’s like an adopt a student program. Dr. Elesha Ruminski said that the bridge group “went the distance to sustain a name in the community.” One of the group’s members, Jerilyn Jackson is a regular at the dialogues and she has also “adopted” two students. The two students Russell Terry and Alysha Giddings said that they had a special bond with Jerilyn right away and felt comfortable around her. They said “Adopt a Student made us want to come back to Frostburg and I love having a second family in Frostburg to help me out.” Russell and Alysha are also dating and learn a lot from Jerilyn and her husband. 

The community is really trying to be more involved with the Frostburg State University community. At the dialogue there was many groups that tackled different issues in the community, but everyone was quite when it came to discussing these issues’s out loud. Marvin stated that “it seems like everyone has become shy.” As the night progressed it started to become less awkward as the whole group separated into smaller groups to discuss different issues.  As the night went on the numbers dwindled, mostly students left to make it to other class or practices. Roland Lovett stayed and said that “I’m glad I got to be a part of such a wonderful event.” The passion that was displayed throughout the evening was breathtaking. Students were excited and eager to help in the community.