An event that has recently made headlines has taken the world by storm. Missouri students took a stand during the week of Feb. 15 and blocked the Westboro Baptist protesters from Michael Sam, a defensive end football player who recently came out to the Mizzou community that he was gay.

The amount of Missouri community support that has been shown is unimaginable. The group of Westboro Baptist protesters were outside Mizzou’s arena, protesting Missouri’s backing of Sam. The University students had given Sam a standing ovation when the defensive end returned to his alma mater to accept the 2014 Cotton Bowl Championship Trophy. Before anyone could blink, many community members and students ended up blocking the Westboro Baptist protesters from view of the arena by forming a human wall. To make matters even better, they turned their backs and sang the alma mater until the Westboro Baptist group dispersed back to wherever they appeared from. This was thanks to the organizers of this event, Mizzou sophomores Kelaney Lakers and Alix Carruth. They came up with the saying “Stand with Sam.”

Social media had a field day with this event. The amount of support shown by students was an Instagram heaven and a Twitter trend. As this event started trending, the popular hashtag #StandwithSam received thousands of re-tweets. As videos were posted, it was amazing to see the positive movement that Mizzou was making. It was a historical moment in the school’s history and for even more community people. It shows the progressive movement that the United States as a whole is moving towards an equal nation—one college and state at a time.

With many things changing in the gay community, this is one win for the record books. Not only is this a win for Michael Sam, but it’s a win for the hearts of many as it shows people do care and it helps restore the faith in humanity. It only took the courage of two Mizzou students to stand up against the hate being thrown at Michael Sam and show everyone watching that love conquers all.