CLEMSON, S.C. _ Clemson running back Darien Rencher looked out into the crowd of about 3,000 people who gathered for a peaceful protest on campus Saturday evening after an exhausting couple of weeks with pride.
"This is beyond what I could have imagined," an emotional Rencher said. "I just keep looking around. I've gotten teary-eyed a bunch of times. ... This really is just beautiful. Hopefully we can ball this moment up and carry it with us into our homes, our days, our work spaces and do some real change."
Rencher, quarterback Trevor Lawrence, linebacker Mike Jones and receiver Cornell Powell helped organize Saturday's Clemson Community Peaceful Demonstration at Bowman Field.
The two-hour event began with opening remarks from Clemson players, current non-athlete students and police chief Greg Mullen.
Jones, who first came up with the idea for the protest, offered words of encouragement about the future of Clemson University, the state and the country.
"Today, I have hope," Jones said. "Two months ago if somebody would've asked me if we could get a diverse group like this to come together and talk about issues facing the black community, I wouldn't have thought it was possible. I haven't seen it my whole life."
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, university president Jim Clements and Athletics Director Dan Radakovich were all on hand for the event, which came a day after the school announced that its honors college will no longer be called the Calhoun Honors College after John C. Calhoun, a pro-slavery politician. It has been renamed the Clemson University Honors College.
Protesters marched approximately two miles around Clemson chanting: "Black Lives Matter;" "No justice, no peace;" "Say his name _ George Floyd;" and "Say her name _ Breonna Taylor."
The march was in response to George Floyd's death in Minnesota last month and in support of the Black Lives Matters movement. Floyd, a black man, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes.
"We want to bring people together around a time where it can be really divisive," Rencher told the crowd. "It's beautiful to see all of us together. We look different, we are different, but we're together at a time when we could be divided."
Rencher asked for the fans who show up at Death Valley to cheer on the Tigers football team to also show up on campus Saturday for the peaceful protest, and the message throughout was clear: We are more than just football players in a jersey.
One sign read: "If this upsets you, stay home for football season."
Following the march, Rencher, Lawrence and Swinney spoke. The evening ended with everyone on hand joining in to sing "Amazing Grace."
"This is a historic time and a challenging time," Swinney said. "I believe God stopped the world in 2020 so we would have perfect vision and clearly see the social and racial injustices and the changes that need to occur in our society. ... It has to be everybody's responsibility to be more aware, to learn more and to speak out against racial inequality."
Clemson started back voluntary workouts this week and had two unnamed players out of 104 test positive for the coronavirus. Those players are being isolated and did not attend Saturday's peaceful protest.
The event was peaceful and did not feature any violence or negativity.
Mullen, Clemson University's chief of police, used his time to speak to offer full support for the protest.
"I'm committed to change as well. Enough is enough," Mullen said. "When I see people that are wearing uniforms and badges like mine doing the things I've seen on TV, it disgusts me. It's wrong and we've got to change that.
"I want to make a commitment to you that I'm going to do everything I can with my voice and my influence wherever I can to make change so that George Floyd and others like him have a legacy that we build on that's going to stop the sorrow, the sadness and the destruction that happens because of racism and injustice."
