The Cords of Distinction are given to a few seniors every year. The blue represents the strength of conviction that one person can help to create a better institution or community. Gold represents the love of spirit and yearning toward creating a better university environment or community. While we are honored to have been recognized for our “significant and verifiable impact” on the University, we know that our engagement within the EMU community was borne of necessity to fight for our own survival and the survival of our loved ones within our institution. 

We dream of a university where all students feel safe and have room to flourish. We dream of an institution that proactively implements policies that are equitable and just. We dream of a university in which future “distinct” students can spend their time and energy following their passions rather than fighting for their survival. 

Advocacy for safety and equity– often for our own identities– has been fueled by solidarity and connections with communities with similarly lived experiences. We have been lucky enough to work with students who share a similar vision. The beautiful memories made and the people encountered have carried us through; however, they do not excuse the injustice of forcing Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latine/x, LGBTQ+, and international students to create security for themselves. 

There is nothing romantic about devoting your time and energy to ensuring that those who come after you do not face the same barriers as you.

There is nothing commendable about sending students on cross cultural journeys across the world, where they are forced to confront context-specific anti-Blackness by themselves. 

There is nothing progressive or “inclusive” about an institution that is, at times, so violent towards transgender students that many would rather transfer than transition, and where trans identity and gender nonconformity is seen as a sideshow act at best and a religious abomination at worst.

There is nothing peaceful about resilience used as an institutional token, when the toil of assimilation becomes an example to follow.

There is nothing genuine about a campus-wide restorative justice discipline when it still fails to hear silenced voices, when it does not satisfy the need for accountability.

There is nothing empowering about fearing that our basic needs will not be met, nothing considerate about relying on the unpaid labor of faculty and staff to provide money, food, and hygiene products; there is nothing liberating about suffering alone. 

You are distinguishing us for surviving in classrooms and dorms that feel unsafe, for bearing the burden to educate our peers and educators on harmful behavior. Our actions of resilience are co-opted to market the institution’s “wokeness”, while our physical and emotional labor remains uncompensated. Endurance of injustice should not be our distinguishing quality as Cords recipients. These harms must be addressed so the next students awarded with Cords of Distinction are recognized primarily for doing great things as students– not for picking up the slack where the institution has failed to make environments safe and equitable. University administration, faculty must take the initiative to create safe communities for marginalized students. 

Signed,

2021 Cords of Distinction Recipients 

• Akiel Baker, Amanda Jasper, Ambrose Monaham, Anisa Leonard, Brandon Higgins, Hannah Nichols, Jakiran Richardson, Mariana Martinez-Hernandez, Maya Dula, Naomi Davis,

Affirmed by

2020 Cords of Distinction Recipients

Abigail Shelly,  Ariel Barbosa, Cheyenne Murzillo,Donaldo Lleshi, Emily Powell, Gabrielle McMillon, Justin Odom, Kiara Kiah, Leah Wenger,Lindsay Acker