Students were found in disbelief as they walked through the Memorial Student Building after witnessing the exhibit, ABC’s of Genocide, mounted in support of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Alumnus Kevin Pendleton showcased his art work on May 2 in hopes of educating students on the relevance of genocide.
Genocide is as common as the ABC’s and has occurred throughout the world in recent years.
The exhibit highlighted the United States’ role in each genocide, and different ways it could have prevented atrocities from happening.
Each alphabet letter was representative of a global atrocity.
For example, C is for Cambodia. The piece was then accompanied by a brief essay providing a summary of the occurred evert.
“It’s interesting to see how the government chooses to teach us about certain things, and if it weren’t for this exhibit we wouldn’t have known about all these different tragedies, world genocides that have taken a place over decades. It’s scary to know how some of these are very recent,” said Kimberly Gonzalez, social work major.
The exhibit was an eye-opener for many students. Students were able to ask questions and interact with students taking the Comparative Genocide class.
Students enrolled in the course were able to provide a small presentation explaining some of the horrific actions that have occurred in history.
“I think that one of the reasons to host this is that, anti-Semitism, racism, these are still very current in our world today, and we need to remember where that can lead and see what we can do to educate ourselves and stop going down that road,” said Dr. Brenda Melendy, professor of Comparative Genocide.
The purpose of the exhibit was to educate students on genocide.
The more people who understand it, the more people that can help prevent genocide from reoccurring.
“The way people understand things like this, like atrocities and genocide and crimes against humanity, is that it is something that is part of the human experience… for me, it becomes our obligation to detest it in such a way that it compels us to act against it, and in our own little way prevent things that can lead to these types of events and atrocities,” Pendleton said.
The exhibit emphasized the theme of “awareness equals prevention,” and the fundamentals of getting educated and acting as global peace-keepers.
“As the people walk down the hall, if they felt the tiniest bit of anything, if they see anything, or if they learned anything…then the exhibition is a success. The exhibition is an extension of peace for prevention,” Pendleton said.