reflections on our stop at Patrick Henry

Our stop in Virginia to visit Patrick Henry College was characteristic of a lot of our stops in terms of the presence of a very dichotomous community who welcomes us and loves us and also a community like the school who shuts us out and publishes falsities about our visit and us.

We arrived at Patrick Henry College on a cold morning to over 100 police officers, a visible 45 or so lined up across the property line in front of the school. The college clearly marked their property line with caution tape and no trespassing signs. I was the designated police liaison for the stop, so I spoke with police upon arrival. The police were awkward, in my opinion, but very willing to work with us. Riders later heard several of the officers comment on how stupid they felt for the excessive police presence at the school. There were police in front of us, to the side of us, in the buildings at the school, on four-wheelers riding across the campus… it was wild.









We stood vigil for an hour, had a press conference, and then two of our riders, Jarrett and Josh, walked on to the school carrying invitations to a community dinner to be held that night. The police let them walk pretty far on to campus, I think because they weren’t quite sure what to do, before they arrested them. Jarrett and Josh are both Black, and their arrests were strategically chosen because Patrick Henry College currently enrolls NO Black students.







A few other quick facts- over 80% of Patrick Henry’s students are home-schooled before attending college. The students and faculty are required to believe in a strict 6-day creation story. The school has a high turn over rate of faculty because of such things.

We went to lunch, and when I returned, my friend Nick who lives in DC was waiting on us. It was really awesome to see him again. I miss organizing with him and being around fellow Arkansans who want to partake in radical work. I feel like those type of activists are a dying breed in Arkansas, and I am not really sure what it will take to get people involved again. But, anyways…

We stood vigil again, and then it started to rain, so we put on our ponchos and continued standing silently, waiting to be let on campus to speak with students. The police began to take shifts. They would file in and out every so often to stand in front of us.





We received a copy of the press release sent out by Patrick Henry College stating that we wish to engage students in inappropriate topics about sex. There were other horrible things said, most of which are found in the letter a couple of posts below.

The rain slowed, and an officer approached me to tell me that a hailstorm was on the way, and that we had to do something quick. Luckily our bus was already on the way, but was late because of a traffic accident. We gathered and crossed the street, and it began to pour down. The rain was hard and thick. By this time, the hailstorm had weakened, and I don’t think the precipitation was quite that solid, but it was still unpleasant. We stood, waiting on the bus, getting soaked despite our adorning of ponchos. We tried to make jokes while we waited about our miserable condition, including that we felt like that day brought a new meaning to the phrase, “come hell or high water.” We stood about 10 minutes in the pouring rain when our bus finally arrived.



Then we headed out to a community member’s house—the same house that we had breakfast in earlier that morning. We hung out, dried off, and rested. I spoke to Nick a long time about organizing and how much we miss it.

Our evening ended with a community dinner at the restaurant that the community members’ happened to own. By the end of the day, I was exhausted and often feeling like I always do after a stop—in a state of mixed emotions. Confident in our message, but sad in the college’s decisions and actions.