Tuesday, March 27 was our second day at Pepperdine University. After sharing breakfast with Pepperdine representatives, we had time to walk through campus and talk with students. The Pepperdine campus is absolutely beautiful. It sits on a mountain in Malibu, CA. As we ate breakfast, we looked out the windows at the vast Pacific Ocean. At night, it was so beautiful to see the lights dot the mountain landscape. My eyes played tricks on me, as the night sky was indistinguishable from the gentle waves of the Pacific.

In the afternoon, we partnered with students from Pepperdine for a trip to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. The museum was an amazing experience. Through a variety of exhibits and interactions, we saw the effects that intolerance can have on the world. Remember Oklahoma City, September 11th, and Matthew Shepherd…these are some of the events that we re-lived through our visit to the Museum of Tolerance. At the end, many people were in tears. I truly feel that this was an important experience to share with the students and faculty of Pepperdine University.

When we returned to Pepperdine, we shared dinner and some closing remarks, then headed up to Heroes Garden. Pepperdine created the Garden in remembrance of an alumni who died on United Flight 93. Looking out into the Malibu night, and gazing out across the ocean, we sang songs of peace as the Equality Ride visit to Pepperdine came to a close. This visit was special for many of us because we built lasting new friendships with the students.

Please keep the LGBT student group at Pepperdine in your prayers. They are currently working to gain official recognition from the administration.

As we awoke for our second day at Notre Dame, my heart was heavy from the events of the day before. We had been asked to leave campus and, as a result, we had not been able to dialogue with students as much as we had hoped. As I ate breakfast, I wondered what we would face today. Originally, I expected Notre Dame to be welcoming. I don’t know why, but perhaps it is because I have friends who went to Notre Dame. I walked outside to smoke a cigarette, and I walked around our bus. The Eastbound bus had been defaced just one day earlier. I found the word “FAGS” written into the dirt on our bus. It was a poignant reminder of why we are on the Equality Ride in the first place.

We boarded the bus to head over to campus, and six riders prepared to engage in civil disobedience. I still was not fully aware of the importance of our work and the power of civil disobedience until later in the day. Many students e-mailed us, walked up to us on campus the first day, and offered words of thanks and encouragement. As we received warnings and exited campus, many students were visibly upset that their university was treating us with a lack of hospitality. I personally had four different people apologize to me for the way Notre Dame received the Equality Ride.

This morning, we stood vigil and recited the prayer of St. Francis – which begins, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace” – while six of our riders crossed the street onto Notre Dame campus carrying a gift of three wreaths, symbolizing the Trinity, to place at the statue of gay military hero Tom Dooley. When warned that they would face arrest, each rider stated that they intended to continue onto campus to place the wreath at Tom Dooley’s statue. One Notre Dame student, Eddy Velazquez, carried the wreath all the way onto campus and placed it near the statue. The campus police arrested and processed the riders and returned them to our hotel. As they boarded the bus, we cheered for their courageous effort. We know through the personal stories we heard from students and community members that we made a difference.

We spent the afternoon at the local LGBT community center, where we viewed and discussed a film about a nun who went to the Vatican to invite the Roman Catholic Church to accept the LGBT community. Students from a few different local campuses joined us for this event.

For me, this stop was revolutionary. We made a difference in the lives of people at Notre Dame. I am proud to be a part of this amazing effort, and I am proud that the Westbound bus took such a courageous stand for our community.