BUFFALO, N.Y. — If a picture is worth a thousand words, more than nine minutes of footage of a man losing his life is worth a global movement. The visuals of George Floyd’s killing are what Buffalo State College President Katherine Conway-Turner believes made the summer of 2020 unlike any call for social justice the nation has seen before.

“It’s not that for me, or for many members of our community, that we’re not aware of the many times that Black and Brown men have lost their lives or been hurt when they had connections with the police," said SUNY Buffalo State President Katherine Conway-Turner, "but in this particular moment, after a series of other events, then you see the George Floyd event and you see the visual, and you see for over almost nine minutes, someone crouched down with their knee on the back and neck of an individual. I think the visual, you just couldn’t let go of it."

Last year on June 4, the president of North Central University in George Floyd’s home of Minneapolis issued a challenge to the presidents of all colleges and universities in America to establish a George Floyd Memorial Scholarship Fund. Just one day later, Buffalo State College became one of the first higher ed institutions in the nation to accept the establishment of a scholarship created to benefit a student fighting for social justice.

“It’s a scholarship that stands for someone who is willing to work for justice and humanity; I mean, that’s what it’s really about," Conway-Turner said. "It captures the name of a person and a moment in time that shows us at the lowest, something that we don’t ever want to repeat again, and so the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship really celebrates the importance of social justice and the importance of us investing in individuals who are willing to do the work and stand for humanity and justice moving forward.”

That individual was 18-year-old Sencere Jones, a freshman from New York City with dreams of becoming an OB-GYN to help combat the disparities that women of color face in the American medical system. He reflected on the application process and how the scholarship has inspired not only his education and career goals but his continued fight for the betterment of society.

“I think the [George] Floyd scholarship really inspired me to write an essay that spoke to change, the fact that we need change and we need it now," Jones said. "I can’t just sit around and expect change, or want change, or hope for change, or pray for change; I have to be the one to stand up and make the change.”

While Jones has noticed some positive changes that have arisen from the movement born last year, there are other areas in which people can do better, and he hopes to be a catalyst for that. 

“I feel now, there’s a platform for people to spread these types of situations where they can be broadcast and people can become aware and educate themselves," he said, "and I just feel that we’re lacking with a sense of solidarity; I feel like that’s where I really need to focus my energy, is creating a sense of camaraderie among marginalized groups because I’ve seen a lot of attacking between Black and Asian communities, Black and Hispanic communities and I feel like that’s counterproductive for the movement we’re trying to create. I just feel like that’s where a lot of energy needs to be centered.”

As the fight for unity and change continues, we’re going to need each other to bring about lasting change.

"The work to do is to continue the assessment," Conway-Turner said, "and then once you find something out, do something about it and not just say, well, that’s the way it’s always been; but how do we have a more equitable, more humane, more just world? It takes all of us. It can’t just be what Buffalo State does, or what organization happens here, we all have to privilege the importance of justice and humanity for all of us and do the work within our own spheres and if we do that, his life will have amazing meaning because it will allow us to be better than we are today and better than we were yesterday so that years from now we can look back and say that not only was it that tipping point that people talked about, but people dared to do the hard work to craft, create, and sustain a more equitable world.”

Conway-Turner also announced that Buffalo State will be accepting applications for the 2021 George Floyd Memorial Fund Scholarship this summer.