“I have, because of my Armenian identity. Since the age of 10 I’ve been participating in protests about the denial of the Armenian genocide, so I do that a lot with my Armenian community at home. Recently, I participated in the NAACP protest on Friday, and I spoke on behalf of the Armenian Students Association. We were just expressing that we are standing in solidarity with our black brothers and sisters.”

Karoun Tcholakian, Farmington Hills, Junior, Internation Relations with double Minor in Arabic and Human Rights

“I have never participated in a protest or demonstration. The country where I’m from, its very hard to participate in them because they do not exist. So naturally, when we see protests and demonstrations, we are afraid of them because all associations we have with them is like negativity from government and government forces. If you hold a protest or a demonstration, its not going to end good. Demonstrations and protests never end good, and that’s why nobody ever participates in them. Three years living here, I still have this natural feeling, this natural fear inside me. I don’t know why I’m so ignorant still, nut naturally I’m scared of stuff like that. I think the nature of protest here are very different, and i think i need to participate because they’re are a lot of issues here that are very complex, and i think if we do not stand up for them, nobody is. It’s on us.”

Kanykey Begaliyeva, Senior, Almaty, Kazakhstan; Hospitality Management

“My sorority does it every year, we just protest against the ‘R’ word, say the word to end a word. I feel really strongly about it because my major is therapeutic recreation, and I hope to work with people with disabilities.” 

Josalyn Spear, Junior, St. Clair Shores, Therapeutic Recreation

“I personally have never been in one. I’m not a very committed person to a lot of things. I read up on it, but to go out in public and take a stand is nerve-wracking for me.”

David Van Alstyne, Senior, Wauconda, Illinois; Mathematics and Secondary Education