Crossroads with Professor Sasser
On Friday the 15th of February, the William & Mary community had the privilege of hosting a TEDx event. TEDxWilliamandMary is an independently organized TED event run by undergraduate students. The subject of discussion was Crossroads: where have we been? Where are we now? Where are we going? Seven thought-provoking speakers showed up all hoping to spark discussions that would extend beyond the auditorium, including the Government Department’s own, Professor Jackson Sasser.
The first speaker, Mike Curtin, the CEO of DC Central Kitchen, shared his story behind his 2006 decision to go on a hunger strike. He believes sometimes, it is okay to be a little antisocial. In his experience, the lonely hunger strike and his dedication led to the transformation of his organization.
Next, William & Mary’s own visual design coordinator, Sophia Ramsey challenged the audience to reflect on the millennial definitions of success and failure. Her message: roadblocks are actually building blocks, just be sure to stay on the road.
Student speaker, Kareem Al-Attar shared his story of adversity and the importance of owning your struggle. After his father had the flee the country, he had a realization: we all have a struggle, we just have to own it.
Lisa Green, Alumni of class of ’83, spoke on the power of the pronoun she when referring to the divine. Green holds the view that if society could hold female and neutral imagery into the library collection of our heads we would see more equality in the world. Language matters more than we realize.
Another student speaker, Sydney Moondra, shared a powerful personal story about her experience with mental health and how it led her to the creation of the non-profit organization, Dil to Dil (Heart to Heart in English). Dil to Dil works to destigmatize mental health illnesses and struggles, especially in South Asian communities. I can say with confidence that Moondra has impacted not only South Asian communities with her strength and courage, but all those who have had the pleasure to meet her, including everyone in the auditorium.
Alumni Cosmo Fujiyama returned to the College to share what she has discovered working as the Vice President of The Future Project: learning as liberation. Her lesson? Education should be a lifelong pursuit that sets you free, deepens your joy and curiosity, and presents “lift-moments” where we can assist others.
Lastly, Government Professor Sasser closed the talk with the topic: There are more important things than this midterm. Sasser compares a university’s work with that of our criminal justice system. Both are fundamentally competitive, so he questions, what would happen if we traded competition for compassion? Sasser emphasizes the importance of compassion and perspective in both our classrooms and our courtrooms. Lives are being changed in both settings, whether for better or worse. Professor Sasser, in his tenth-year teaching interdisciplinary courses in topics such as Constitutional law, criminal procedure, race and the law, and the death penalty should be able to confidently say he has changed many of his students’ lives for the better, including mine. His advice for us is simply to listen. Deafness is systemic in all communities. We have a common calling to go to the unprotected and those who need the laws of protection the most, whether this be in our classrooms, our William & Mary community, or the prison system. We never know what another person has or is going through but all human beings are more alike than unlike and can at least listen.
