{"id":4931,"date":"2016-09-19T11:21:40","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T15:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/news\/?p=4931"},"modified":"2016-09-20T11:15:05","modified_gmt":"2016-09-20T15:15:05","slug":"lnp-diversity-free-speech-panelists-include-e-town-student-title-ix-director-and-director-of-diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/2016\/09\/19\/lnp-diversity-free-speech-panelists-include-e-town-student-title-ix-director-and-director-of-diversity\/","title":{"rendered":"LNP Diversity, Free Speech panelists include E-town student, Title IX director and director of diversity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo<\/a> When University of Chicago dean of students\u2019 letter to incoming freshman stated that the college “does not support so-called ‘trigger warnings’,” he prompted a new round of debate and discussion on an already polarized subject in higher education. In academia, a trigger warning is a verbal or written disclaimer of content or subject matter, which might cause some students to become distressed or take offense. Those who oppose political correctness and these warnings on college campuses say the approach not only infringes on the first amendment but is unrealistic as \u201csafe spaces\u201d and \u201ctrigger warnings\u201d are not present in the \u201creal world.\u201d<\/p>\n

With this ongoing debate in mind, LNP Opinion Department is holding a Diversity and Free Speech on Campus public forum at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20. E-town senior Katelyn Gebbia, Director of Diversity Monica Smith and Equity and Title IX Director Armenta Hinton will serve on the panel along with student, faculty and administrative representatives from Millersville University, Franklin & Marshall College, HACC, Lancaster Bible College, Lancaster Theological Seminary and Stevens College of Technology.<\/p>\n

Co-sponsored by LNP Media Group and Millersville University, the free public event will be held at The Ware Center, 42 N. Prince St., Lancaster.<\/p>\n

Promotional information from LNP notes that panelists will explore if free speech is being sacrificed to concerns about trigger warnings, microaggressions and safe spaces. They also will discuss if students have legitimate concerns about language in this age of diversity and if political correctness is being overly sensitive or merely polite. Using hashtag #PConCampus, additional discussion questions and observations may be tweeted during and prior to the event.<\/p>\n

Gebbia who said she believes political correctness is important, is excited to have been invited to participate on the panel. \u201cI\u2019ve always been a pretty big proponent of diversity and free speech, as well as the impact of words,\u201d she said. Being active with several student organizations and sensitive to tolerance on campus she likes “the chance to talk about things that are important to me on such a large scale.” This is her first time sitting on a panel; she said she hopes it will not be her last.<\/p>\n

Smith, however, has taken part in scores of panels on controversial topics such as social justice and accessibility.\u00a0 The College’s director of diversity said that when people talk about political correctness, they\u2019re, in fact, talking about diversity. \u201cOne of the things that I hope to challenge at the panel,\u201d Smith said, \u201cis the notion of political correctness.\u201d For her, PC stands for professionally competent.\u00a0 People should examine what it respectful and be personally competent, as well. It\u2019s important for students to attend the forum, Smith said, because education often takes place outside the physical classroom. This event will allow students to hear differing opinions and contribute to the conversation in a meaningful way.<\/p>\n

The subject of this panel has been a hot topic for quite a while but is now more polarized, said Hinton. The College\u2019s Equity and Title IX director said people often think of free speech as the ability to say whatever they want without consequence, but that is not possible in a society where there are reactions to such speech. \u201c[It is important to] maintain a level of civility when we use our free speech,\u201d Hinton said, pointing out how America has changed over the years. There didn\u2019t used to be trigger warnings and safe spaces, she said, and, not too long ago, black women did not have the right to vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a firm believer that when we know better, we do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gebbia said she wants this event to show students and administrations that this topic is a national concern important to more than just a small group of students. \u201cI hope people \u2026 put away their own reservations and engage so it doesn\u2019t become a lecture instead of a panel,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Smith shares this view.\u00a0 \u201cI know this is going to be a facilitated discussion, but my hope is that we can walk to the edge and really talk about things.”<\/p>\n

The doors open at 6 p.m., and seating is limited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When University of Chicago dean of students\u2019 letter to incoming freshman stated that the college “does not support so-called ‘trigger warnings’,” he prompted a new round of debate and discussion on an already polarized subject in higher education. In academia, a trigger warning is a verbal or written disclaimer of content or subject matter, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":4932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4931"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4950,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4931\/revisions\/4950"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}