The SRJC community performed at Music as a Means on Dec. 1 in the Bertolini Student Activities Center as part of a musical memorial for Kory Kevin Ryan.
Music as a Means, created in 2008 by Amanda Swan, former Student Senate president, offers poetry, original and cover songs to be performed by SRJC students and faculty members.
This was the third and last Music as a Means event of the semester and the Associated Students decided to dedicate it to Ryan who spent the semester directing the program before his untimely death.
“Kory was a pioneer on campus, there to speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves,” said President of Advocacy Jessica Jones.
For 2011 Ryan was in charge of contacting musicians for social justice, according to Jones.
The first performer was Director of Student Affairs Robert Ethington.  “Kory arranged some way to do this,” Ethington said.  He played guitar and sang with his wife Amy. They started off with an original song title, “Got it Coming,” which left the audience nodding in agreement and enthusiastically tapping their toes.
“Kory was making the work a little bit better for everybody, not just a few,” Ethington said.
David Ryan, a Library Technician for the Mahoney Library in Petaluma, performed three songs.  He began with “Youngstown” by Bruce Springsteen, followed by an original song, “Better Day” and  ended with a Bob Dylan cover.
Gordon Yazmen, an auto technology instructor, introduced political poetry to the crowd. The audience let out a few chuckles during Yazmen’s “Mega Corps” poem.
Instructors like Steve Morris of Counseling 53 rewarded extra credit for attendance.  Morris performed with Ethington more covers of the night’s favorite artist, Bob Dylan. There were four students from Morris’s class, with a full attendance of around 25 people.
The show ended early with Yazmen presenting a final poem.  “It’s not a lullaby but it’s a good one to end with,” Yazmen said.