In tandem with the nationwide No Kings movement, both Goshen and Elkhart saw engagement from Goshen College students at their protests on Saturday. Chaya Lynch, a sophomore history pre-law major and organizer of the Elkhart protest gave a speech during that protest which highlighted her education and experiences at GC.
“As a student of history, I have learned, through studying the past, that change and action has never been possible standing still or staying silent,” Lynch said during her speech. She is also working towards starting a chapter of Indivisible at GC, a nationwide movement to counter the rise of authoritarianism.
The Goshen protest was organized by a Goshen High School student, Ranay Miller. This protest saw around 600 people organize, headed by Miller and aided by Goshen City Council Democrats, Goshen City Democrats, Elkhart County Democrats and the Elkhart County chapter of Indivisible.
“It was a diverse group of people … We had three different tabling groups and we had the family of Bryan Ramirez, the 17-year-old that was shot in Elkhart,” Miller said. The Goshen protest was on the No Kings day map and received calls from people working with the No Kings organization.
“I’m kind of just trying to be the voice for everyone and just organize people … People have the right idea, they want to get involved, but it doesn’t really seem like anyone knows how to organize and do that,” Miller said.
Levi Friesen, a first-year public health and marketing major, attended the Goshen protest. “I got a text from some of my friends … because they wanted Peter [Moser] to be a photographer. We rushed to the Rott because we wanted to stand up to our orange fascist dictator,” he said.
Lynch said, “The atmosphere was filled with hope and community. One piece of protest, which should be highlighted more, is the reassurance you are overcome by seeing that you aren’t the only one who cares and is trying to make a difference.”
With reporting by Jacob Friesen
Contributed by Chaya Lynch
