By Dr. Scott Hagan, President, North Central University
Every night in America people die whose lives are taken long before they are fully realized. Such was the case last night in a Minneapolis suburb.
His name is Daunte Wright.
Daunte was a 20-year African American male who looks like many of our students here at North Central. This latest tragedy feels too familiar, and it is profoundly personal for our students of color. It is also profoundly personal for all of us at NCU, I included, because we are in the business of elevating young lives, and it goes against our very purpose when a young life is ended too soon.
As a nation, we are numb, angry, and politicized. This moment just overwhelms our souls and leaves us at a loss for words or actions that could contribute anything positive to a devastating situation. As a community, we are devastated that this happened. We wait for full reports of what happened and how. We long for a rewind we cannot have and are left to wrestle with complexities of thought, motive, and decision-making that cannot be fully explained nor comprehended. And instead, we are left holding a truth we do not want to hold: a young man, made in the image of God, is gone.
As Christians, we are called to make choices of response, sorting through the origins of our own thoughts and being challenged to see all of humanity through the eyes of Christ. We are called to seek justice and work toward a better world, and to work with others seeking to do the same, working together on our differing methods while focusing on goals that unite us.
In this time, we need the Holy Spirit to answer the call to flip this script once and for all and fill us with sensitivity and compassion in the midst of pain and uncertainty. The Church must move quickly in prayer, comfort, unity, justice, and wisdom.
Most importantly, we must PRAY and ask the Lord to break down these strongholds of death and division.
We will remember Daunte Wright. We pray for all who are mourning his loss and for everyone involved in this terrible tragedy.
