Redlands, California

Reflection written by Leela MadhavaRau, Special Advisor to the President and Associate Dean of Campus Diversity and Inclusion, University of Redlands.

I first saw Divided We Fall at a national conference. At that time, I felt it was a film that would have an impact on the students on our campus. When I read that there was a national campaign to show the film across the country, I wanted to make sure that people in Redlands had a chance to participate.

One of the student organizations on campus, Fidelity, Isonomy and Erudition (FIE), decided to stage a re-enactment of the Balbir Singh Sodhi’s murder scene. They did this out in our central plaza, an area where the majority of the University’s population will pass during any given day. Alongside the scene, they posted information about the film screening as well as information about the retribution murders and blank sheets of paper for responses. This display was a very effective way of drawing the campus’ attention to the film screening as well as to hate crimes.


We showed the film on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008. We thought that we might have an audience of about 75 but, in the end, we had approximately 140 participants. These included students, faculty, staff and members of the local community.

I believe that one of the comments from our student community represents the reaction of those who saw the film:

“I heard a whisper of a dialogue about race and discrimination floating around campus in the week preceding the showing of your film. Immediately after the showing, I heard that whisper grew into full-fledged conversation about things students wouldn’t really talk about normally, and it was amazing. I feel like your documentary brought so much awareness to Redlands. Sometimes a realization of the most awful things can produce the most motivation to make a difference. I also really appreciated your personal and realistic touch to the film. It made it that much more impactful. Thank you.”

The day after the screening, I ran into another administrator who saw some of the students returning from the screening. He commented that they told him that they had just viewed a film that had had an incredibly profound impact on them. Faculty in various classes commented that their students talked about the new perspectives gained from watching the film as well as insight into themselves, particularly around issues of stereotyping.

I encourage campuses across the nation to use this film to begin dialogue and conversation.

>Read viewer responses from the University of Redlands screening.