Salisbury University community members take a stand against recent violence

SALISBURY, Md. – The alleged violent hate crime implicating 12 Salisbury University students is one that Montana Native, Alex Mattie, never thought she’d hear of in Salisbury.

It hits close to home for the graduate student, who told WMDT, has shaken the campus community.

“To be frank with you, my initial thought was of Matthew Shepard. He was a gay man in the 90s who was murdered in Wyoming for his sexuality, and I couldn’t help but think of it because that was close to home then and this is close to home now,” Mattie said.

Sophomore, Moe Collins, said allegations of the 12 students kicking, punching and spitting on an adult male victim because of his sexual orientation have pushed many students to seek counseling resources through the university’s LGBTQ+ alliance.

“A lot of students are scared to go to class and all that, so us as an alliance are trying to support students with their mental health,” Collins said. “I feel like this event is going to bring us together with the troubling times, instead of separating us like people want to do.”

As students continue to cope, Mattie said attending these types of events and standing up to violence is just the first step in the healing process.

“Homophobia is not gone, transphobia is not gone, we like to think that we live in a world where we moved past racism, sexism, all of those things, but they’re still around,” Mattie said.  “As Angela Davis says, freedom is a constant struggle. We have to continue fighting for our freedom, regardless of when or why, regardless of where we are.”