Community potluck held to show unity after election

Citing tensions brought on by the election, students, faculty and staff at USD, along with Vermillion community members, hoped to remind others of their sense of unity Monday evening by gathering together for a community potluck.

The Community Unity Potluck, an event organized by USD’s Criminal Justice Program, brought in more than 120 attendees, with around 60 of them providing food at the Al Neuharth Media Center.

Sara Lampert, assistant professor of history and an organizer of the event, said she was happy with the number of people who attended.

“I like that it brought a lot of different people together, I liked that it’s home-cooked food and I like that it’s celebrating unity and community in the holiday season,” Lampert said.

Sandy McKeown, director of the criminal justice program and an organizer of the event, said the potluck was planned to bring people together.

“One of the things that occurred to me after the election was that there was a lot of tension on campus, and I think there were a lot of people who were feeling sort of fearful,” McKeown said. “One of the things that I thought was really important for criminal justice majors and studies program to remember is that, no matter what’s going on around you, you’re still part of a community, and you can always serve people.”

McKeown said she came up with the idea for the potluck, and the criminal justice students and faculty thought it was a good idea. Following that, it was a matter of inviting as many people as they could and planning where the event would be held.

“It was definitely a group effort,” she said. “People really shared a lot of the love.”

Sean Johnston, a senior political science major, helped out with the event by greeting people at the doors. He said he was “astonished” by the amount of people who attended, and thought the event helped showcase the USD and Vermillion community.

“We want to remind everyone that we’re a community, it’s not an ‘us versus them’ situation, it’s ‘we,'” Johnston said. “We thought the best way to do that was just to get people together, no slideshows, no talking, no anything — just good food and good conversation.”

The potluck also hosted a supply drive for Children’s Home Society in Sioux Falls. Volunteers collected donations at USD, Walmart and HyVee this week for the drive.

“In terms of service, I asked a group of students who decided to volunteer with us what they would like to do for service, and they chose children,” McKeown said. “I know that I filled my SUV plus a minivan with supplies already, so we’re going to be able to send a lot of stuff down there. Being reminded on how generous our neighbors are was very uplifting.”

Johnston said he hoped the event impacted the USD and Vermillion community.

“No matter what our beliefs are, we’re all together,” he said.

Lampert said she wants the event to remind USD of the connections it has with Vermillion and the lasting impact it has through the supply drive.

“I (hope) it creates a tradition that we can instill every year,” Lampert said. “We’re excited for the amount of support we had for the drive, and I think that’s another piece of it.”

McKeown said she was excited for the event and the amount of attendees that came.

“Just remembering that we’re all part of a community is the most important thing,” McKeown said. “( I liked) just seeing people laughing, sharing together, enjoying each other’s company — that sense of community knowing that you’re part of something larger than just yourself.”