Wednesday, April 15, 2015 // The Statement 
 
13B

Austin McCoy by: James Brennan, Daily Opinion Columnist 

Khris Sanchez by: Natalie Gadbois, Deputy Statement Editor

Will Royster by: Grace Hamilton, Daily Arts Writer

sonality 
have 
commanded 
the 

respect of both students and facul-
ty, engaging in wide-ranging work 
but rarely advertising it. McCoy has 
been a key voice in the United Coali-
tion for Racial Justice, which last 
year organized an all night speak 
out on issues of race, attended by 
almost 1,000 students. Along with 
#BBUM, the UCRJ has shifted both 
the conversation on campus and the 
attitude of the administration when 
it comes to race.

“The reason people have so 

much respect for his leadership in 
the community is he never extends 
beyond his role,” said Countryman, 
who also co-chairs McCoy’s dis-
sertation committee. “He’s trying 

to bring voices that are not his own 
into the process. The irony of it is 
he gets propelled further into lead-
ership because he’s so principled 
about not reaching beyond where 
he stands.”

This year, McCoy has been at 

the center of students organizing 
against racial profiling and police 
violence, the reverberations of his 
and others’ work being felt through-
out Ann Arbor.

On the night of the grand jury 

announcement, 
McCoy 
sat 
in 

silence with others watching Presi-
dent Barack Obama speak, a split 
screen showing tear gas pour into 
the streets of Ferguson. Earlier that 
fall, McCoy marched through those 

same streets, a helicopter overhead. 
The next night, he felt himself back 
in Ferguson, hearing the propellers 
of a helicopter as he faced a massive 
crowd on the Diag.

“I remember just looking up, and 

I couldn’t see anything but people,” 
McCoy said, recalling his speech at 
that night’s march. “I had done a lot 
of public speaking, I had never spo-
ken at a march or anything like this, 
with this many people.”

Blending his scholarship and 

activism, McCoy told the crowd 
that the decision felt like a provoca-
tion for action, that the failures of 
the justice system were not inde-
pendent of America’s other debts.

“I remember as soon as I was 

finished, I just started crying, I was 
just bawling,” McCoy said. A grin 
came on his face, and he laughed 
describing how he fell into the arms 
of a nearby protester. “I was done … 
emotionally I was just spent.”

But he wasn’t alone.
Hundreds of demonstrators shut 

down the streets of Ann Arbor, 
the march propelling the activist 
group Ann Arbor to Ferguson, MO. 
Naturally, McCoy has been involved 
there as well, raising awareness 
about local policing issues like the 
shooting of Ann Arbor resident 
Aura Rosser.

Somehow, McCoy has found 

time to work on his dissertation, 
which he hopes to complete by next 

winter. His studies focus on the 
economic decline of cities during 
the seventies and eighties and the 
response by progressive activists. 
Countryman believes the research 
will be “a major contribution to the 
history of the 20th century in the 
Midwest.”

And what comes next for Mccoy?
“Any predictions would be lim-

iting,” Countryman, his professor 
and interviewer, said.

McCoy said he plans to enter 

the job market sometime next year, 
with a tenure track position as his 
top priority. But, McCoy pivoted 
with a laugh, “I don’t know if I will 
ever not be able to be an organizer 
or an activist.”

As a child, he dreamt of being a doc-
tor, of helping people.

“My mother said to me ‘Get an 

education. Make sure you make the 
most of the opportunities you have 
and give back,’ ” Royster said.

His skills in math and science led 

him to pursue engineering once he 
arrived at the University. Royster 
tutored, served as a research assis-
tant, and was also a part of the var-
sity wrestling team. Still, he felt as 
though his passion lied elsewhere.

“I spent a lot of time trying 

to align my passion with my tal-
ent and work ethic. When you put 
those things in the same place you 

can start to do incredible things to 
help people, to make this campus 
better,” he said.

He switched to African Ameri-

can Studies and Entrepreneurship. 
With this shift came an even stron-
ger sense of obligation to give back 
and explore new ways of doing so. 
Royster turned to music and poetry 
in addition to activism.

“We all have our narrative, and 

every person’s narrative deserves to 
be heard, every person’s narrative 
can add substance to another per-
son. I have a lot of stories of hard-
ship but I also have a lot of great 
moments in life. If I have the skill to 

share them, then I have to, it’s not 
really a choice,” he said. “I feel like 
once we get to that point where we 
feel like were obligated to give back, 
that’s when you really hit that point 
of ownership of your skills, and you 
can serve.”

Central Student Government, 

Royster believes, is one important 
place where these narratives can be 
shared and collaboration can grow, 
but it’s certainly not the only place. 
Despite The Team’s narrow loss in 
the elections, Royster’s commit-
ment to building unity on campus 
and increasing the volume of every 
student’s voice has only grown.

“So many communities and so 

many people joined to help in the 
process; it was life changing,” he 
said.

Collaboration, as opposed to com-

petition, is something Royster would 
like to see increase on campus.

“We’re all diverse in some way, 

whether it’s diversity of ideas, eth-
nicity, ability, but we all got here for 
different reasons. When we start to 
share and understand our narra-
tives of diversity, we start to have 
that collaboration that we all strive 
for, that we want and the University 
wants,” he said.

Lot’s of people profess these 

kinds of hopes for progress; few 
actually do anything. Royster’s 
candidness in his words and com-
mitment to action is evident even in 
our time together. Royster is heart, 
mind and body in the event of the 
day and the 41 students inside.

The quote on the shirt was spo-

ken at Royster’s high school gradu-
ation. It captures an outlook on 
life and on work that seemed to be 
already deeply ingrained within 
him. That is, graciousness for those 
people and opportunities that 
remind us of our strength, and the 
privileged obligation we have to 
give back.

also belongs to the Lambda Theta 
Phi Latin fraternity, sings in the 
a capella group Kopitonez, is a 
member of the College Advising 
Corps through the Center for Edu-
cational Outreach, and owns his 
own photography business.

Sanchez recalls vividly the 

moment he first learned the power 
his music held for others: as a first 
grader performing in a talent com-
petition.

“I go on stage, and when I sang 

my first note all the way to the end 
it was quiet for about ten seconds, 
and I thought ‘Maybe I did a bad 
job.’ But then everyone stood up 
and they started clapping so loud.”

With a laugh he recounts 

another memorable part of the 
evening: two eighth grade girls 
approaching 
him 
and 
kissing 

each of his cheeks. But it’s evident 
that Sanchez is not in music for 
the recognition. As a vocal major 
who specializes in opera, Sanchez 
readily admits that his medium is 
not the most popular for someone 
our age.

He shows the same drive for 

his operatic future that he does in 
his other activities. His plan for 
the future clearly maps out the 
next decade and a half of his life: 
hopefully vocal grad school at the 
University, studying and perform-
ing opera in Italy, then the same 
in Germany, before returning to 

his homeland of Peru to open a 
music conservatory for children. 
This part of the plan was inspired 
by seeing his mom’s own acts of 
goodwill in a small Peruvian vil-
lage, bringing suitcases full of 
clothing for the children there.

“My mom was so giving, so 

heartfelt, and I wanted to do that. 
Instead of doing that through 
clothes, I wanted to do it through 
music,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez’ 
many 
interests 

coalesced in the most recent 
project he spearheaded, a music 
show called Phenom that took 
place March 14 in the Mendels-
sohn Theater. Sanchez has always 
found vitality in furthering diver-

sity on campus, and this event 
did that through music, bringing 
together fifteen multicultural per-
formance groups on campus to 
promote cultural consciousness 
as well as raise awareness for the 
Lymphoma and Leukemia Society.

Sanchez lost his father to lym-

phoma this past December, and 
the support he and his family 
received after this event prompted 
him to find his own way to give 
back. Through chance, he came 
into contact with a family here in 
an Ann Arbor with a child suffer-
ing from leukemia, and the pro-
ceeds from the event were donated 
to offset their medical bills.

While it’s obvious that Sanchez 

has a wide array of talents and 
causes, one of the most impressive 
things about him is his constant 
optimism. He admits to singing on 
University busses and in exchange 
for burritos at Panchero’s, literally 
booming with warmth and pas-
sion. This all ties back to his par-
ents’ sacrifices so he could have a 
better life.

“Family. You can have a lot of 

friends, but they come and go. 
But family will be with you even 
in your hardest moments. And 
friends who were with me during 
those times, they are considered 
family… Without love and support 
from family, I don’t know how you 
can go far in life.”

