Last Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the NCB auditorium Kevin Wilson presented a documentary to the campus entitled “The Experience: An Aggie Life Documentary.”  Although this may have talked about A&T life as a whole, the documentary’s main focus was on the memory of Dennis Hayle.

On January 25, 2009, Dennis Hayle, a 22-year old senior political science and criminal justice major, was murdered outside of his apartment near campus. And ever since that day I can’t help but ask myself, did Dennis die in vain?

Dennis, a well-respected individual, was our brother. He was a fellow Aggie who lived a life very similar to the one that we all do. And following his death, we saw many tears, heartache and even some calls to action for something to be done.

However, just a little over a year later, the impact Dennis Hayle left on the Aggie community seems to be fading away. It is sad to say this, but it appears as if we have forgotten that his murderer is still out there somewhere.

I feel that a lot of this is our fault. Dennis was murdered in January of last year and it seems that we have made no visible strides to find his murderer.No student should have to come to college and witness the things we have witnessed on this campus in the past five years. And if we must witness it, we need to fight back.

Many blame the police for this. I will be the first to agree that the Greensboro Police Department and A&T police have not stepped up to their roles as police officers in keeping us safe on and off campus. In my opinion, GPD and A&TPD are a joke when it comes to real issues.

They can easily scope out underage drinking and loud parties. Yet when it comes to real issues such as the murder of a college student, GPD and A&TPD just so happen to drop the ball on that particular problem.

After speaking with other peers, a similar feeling lingers that neither police department is going to do much for us on their own. So when do we stop depending on the undependable, and start working for ourselves? Or better yet, when will we put more pressure on these agencies to step up and actually serve and protect us?

I am not implying that the Aggie community should form a gang and hunt down the killer of Dennis Hayle. However, I find it sad that many of us cried and sang songs during his memorial and funeral, but have now gone on about our lives as if nothing happened.

We fail to realize that there is still a mother out there who cries every night because she has lost her son and has yet to receive any answers to why. Time has passed, but the man or woman who killed our beloved Dennis Hayle is still out there and has the license to kill again if he or she feels the need to.

Our school has thrived off of our history to step up when our community or country needs us. However, I find it odd that when we lose one of our own, we as Aggies sit back and expect for someone else to help ease our pain.

But when have we actually put some pressure on these police departments to do something about our frustrations? Too many of us feel powerless against the people who are supposed to be here to cater to us. We allow them to dictate what investigations are and are not important.

If we as a community forget that Dennis’s murderer is still out there, then why should we expect for them to still remember or care?

When have we physically went down to the police department to ask them what is being done today to find the murderer. Nor have we at least formed community watch programs to ensure that this never happens again. We as a family have done very very little to ensure that what happened to Dennis will not go unnoticed.

We all remember what happened, where we were when we heard the news and exactly how it made us feel to know that the man we knew as Dennis Hayle was gone.

But who on this campus jumped up and viewed this moment as a time for change? Who became selfless and said that regardless of what has to be done, this will never happen again?

Dennis Hayle’s murder was a reflection of our society. The fact that no one has stepped up and pressed the issue to find his murderer is a strong indicator that in this society, educated or not, Dennis Hayle is just another dead black man. It hurts me to say that but it appears to be true.

Ice Cube once said “When something happens in South Central, nothing happens, it’s just another nigga dead.” Is this the attitude we have about Dennis?

Sadly, I think it is because this campus has seen multiple murders. We have all heard, or experienced, robbery after robbery at gunpoint either on or around this great institution.

We have shared the pain of a friend being raped in one of these very dorms. But our society has become so twisted to the point that we fail to respond to these actions because we have somehow been taught that these instances just happen.

We need to establish a stronger bond than what we declare we have. But one person cannot stop these things from happening.

Nobody should ever be alone on this campus after dark. We have seen and heard about way too much to continue to set ourselves up for failure. But the true test is, who is willing to go that extra mile to be that person to walk with your friend from the library at 3 a.m.?

Or are we so afraid for our own well being that we will continue to let our best friends be left alone in sticky situations? If this is the case, we have to make a change in the way we think and act.

We have let our fear for change control us to the point that we do nothing at all. This article is bigger than Dennis Hayle. This article, in fact, is bigger than North Carolina A&T.

Dennis Hayle was more than just an Omega. He was more than just another student. He was our brother. And I refuse to let the legacy of our brother die just because some time has passed.

The day his murderer is found will be a great day for many people. But how long will it take for that day to come? How many more students, or people for that matter, must die before we, the activist of our generation, stand up and decide that enough is enough?

If we truly feel that what happened to Dennis should never happen again, then maybe it is time we actually made an attempt to prevent it, opposed to waiting for it to happen again.

• TRUMAINE MCCASKILL