Iowa Students Respond to the Murder of Marcellus Andrews

IOWA STUDENTS RESPOND TO THE MURDER OF MARCELLUS RICHARD ANDREWS

Des Moines, Iowa– August 25 – Iowa Pride Network’s Leadership Team, made up of high school and college students from across Iowa issued a statement today regarding the brutal killing of 19 year old Marcellus Richard Andrews in Waterloo, Iowa. 

 

“This Sunday, many of us were getting ready for our first day of classes. However, as we all now know, one person was not. Upon hearing the story of Marcellus Richard Andrews, we were deeply disturbed that such violence and persecution happened here in the state of Iowa; however we were not entirely surprised that this sort of incident happened. We know firsthand that discrimination and bigotry both exist here, as in other places in the nation, despite our outward progressive appearance.

Let us not as citizens become so naïve as to think occurrences such as these are confined to places that are always elsewhere and never “here,” ever close to home. This has served as a reminder that the fight for equality is not over. We as youth need to vocalize what is happening in our schools and communities to better ensure the safety of all. We need to report every incident, every time so that issues such as these do not go unnoticed. By bringing these issues to the forefront people can become educated and help eliminate tragic events like this one. It is our hope that one day all youth will feel safe to live out in the open, as who they truly are.”

              Benjamin Alley, University of Iowa

Holly Wilson, Southeast Polk High School

Sean Hernandez, University of Iowa                                      

Dane Buchholz Iowa State University

Rachel Anderson, Grinnell College                                         

Alan Toussaint, University of Iowa

Joy Dannelly, Roosevelt High School                                     

Mika Covington, IWCC

Nicholas Muntz, University of Iowa                                        

Brittany Banks, Waldorf College

Stephen Boatwright, DMACC                                                   

              Sara Puffer, University of Iowa