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COM Students Organize Peaceful Protest as Part of the #ENOUGH National School Walkout for Gun Violence Prevention
Local walkout in solidarity with initiative planned for March 14
KENTFIELD / NOVATO, CA—March 8, 2018—Students at College of Marin (COM) have organized a walkout on March 14, 2018, which marks one month since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. This tragedy took the lives of 14 students and three staff members and left many others wounded or injured.
Women’s March Youth Empower has called for students, faculty, staff, and administrators to take part in a national school walkout for 17 minutes in honor of the 17 lives taken lost in the Florida school shooting.
Associated Students of College of Marin (ASCOM) President Ismail Azam organized the walkout that will take place at COM’s Kentfield Campus at 10 a.m. on March 14. Those who participate in the peaceful protest will join student activists across the nation in a collective call for comprehensive gun violence prevention legislation. The walkout will begin at the Student Services Center Quad. A forum and presentation about actions everyone can take to help end gun violence will follow in the Student Services Center, cafeteria.
“This issue is too urgent to stand by and do nothing. Tweets and prayers are just not enough anymore,” said Azam. “We cannot let these unfortunate events simply turn into another statistic in America's gun violence crisis.”
Azam is urging the campus community to unite, take action by voting, and voice their concerns to local elected officials.
According to Women’s March Youth Empower, the national organization organizing the initiative, The ENOUGH National School Walkout is a vehicle for speaking out on behalf of all people who have experienced gun violence. The action aims to highlight the need to prevent all acts of gun violence, including those that happen on city streets, in homes, in places of worship, and in schools.
“Sadly, the threat of gun violence—whether it occurs in schools or in our communities—is something that we must be prepared to address,” says Superintendent/President David Wain Coon. “In addition to providing on-campus training opportunities for responding to an active shooter situation, we also want to support our students’ right to peacefully protest and take actions they believe can affect change.”
Those not able to participate are encouraged to wear orange and take a photo to share on social media as part of a virtual walkout.
ENOUGH – National School Walkout
Student-led Peaceful Protest
Wednesday, March 14, 10 a.m.
Student Services Center Quad
Kentfield Campus
About Women’s March Youth Empower
Women’s March Youth Empower was founded after the 2016 election to encourage youth to organize around issues in our communities and build collective power. Women’s March Youth Empower called for students, teachers, school administrators, parents, and allies to take part in a National School Walkout at 10 a.m. across every time zone on March 14, 2018.
About College of Marin
Established in 1926, College of Marin remains committed to educational excellence, providing equitable opportunities, and fostering success in all members of its diverse community. With campuses in Kentfield and Novato, students of all ages have affordable access to an exciting variety of credit and noncredit courses as well as community education classes for lifelong learning. College of Marin is one of 114 public community colleges in California and approximately 13,000 credit, noncredit, and community education students enroll annually.
College of Marin is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges, 10 Commercial Boulevard, Suite 204, Novato, CA 94949, (415) 506-0234, an institutional accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the U.S. Department of Education.