Northern Illinois University - DeKalb, IL
March 26, 2008
On February 14, 2008 most people were making plans for Valentine’s Day. But the students at NIU were reeling from the latest act of campus violence - a shooting which took the lives of 5 people and injured 18. My staff had been working with the Greek community there to book a GFB event, so we were especially concerned. Our contact e-mailed us that evening informing us that several members of their community had been killed or shot. This confirmed our worst fears. I remember sitting in my office and watching the news on CNN.com, thinking just how this violence is starting to seem “normal” in America. Just another shooting on a college campus…
So last night I spoke at NIU to a packed auditorium of sorority women. I have been in this situation before, when I speak at a school/college in the aftermath of a violent incident. Sometimes the women are still grieving, sometimes they are angry, sometimes they are numb. Really, it’s all about timing. I mean, you don’t want to be giving self-defense seminars two days after a tragedy. People aren’t ready to fight yet…they are still feeling vulnerable. But a few weeks later…well, bring it on. And this was the case last night. These girls were ready to whoop some ass, and they were tired of crying and feeling small. I taught the crowd how to set a double boundary, by getting into a strong stance and using the phrase: Stop. Leave me Alone. I don’t want any problems. The SBG (scary bad guy Josh) then grabbed my wrist. I asked the crowd what this meant, and some girl in the back shouted, “He has a death wish!” See? These girls are no shrinkin’ violets. They were ready for battle. It was inspiring to see their spirits come alive. Thank you, my new friends at NIU. As I said last night, never back down. Never accept violence as status quo. And never make choices stemming from fear…because then the bad guys win.
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