2008 Woodie Awards
UNCW students take stand against hate
Chelsea Smith
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: News
Ignorance. Racism. Bigotry. Sexism. Even in a world in which being "politically correct" has become a core value, these issues still plague our society, and even worse, our campus.
But Housing and Residence Life, Student Government Association and Campus Activities and Involvement Center made an effort to change all that with a week of breaking down hate initiatives April 7-9.
The central component was the Wall of Hate/Wall of Hope. Students placed hateful, discriminatory and defamatory words on the wall in a public "casting out" of hateful vocabulary from our community. After three days, one side of the wall was covered in cruel and ignorant words.
The wall was torn down at the closing ceremony on Wednesday night, symbolically eradicating these hurtful words from the community and replacing them with words that empower, show compassion and instill hope.
"So many of those words are so ingrained in our vocabulary, we don't even realize we say them, or that they carry so much weight," said Cate Alvarez, a sophomore attending the week's events.
In addition to the Wall, HRL sponsored a "Tunnel of Awareness" Wednesday afternoon. The intense tour led students through typical oppressive issues students may face. Participants were shown the often subtle ways many people are oppressed by our society, causing the students to consider all the ways other people are objectified to hateful acts.
The tunnel included issues such as abusive relationships, racial discrimination, use of bigoted words in every day conversation, homosexual and transgender issues and body image.
Students were given a "passport" to allow them to relate the various forms of oppression not only to themselves but also to their peers. The passport provided each participant with the picture and life story of another college student struggling with these issues.
Lindsey Cooper, Residence Coordinator for Galloway Hall and chairperson of the leadership and diversity committee, coordinated the tunnel.
But Housing and Residence Life, Student Government Association and Campus Activities and Involvement Center made an effort to change all that with a week of breaking down hate initiatives April 7-9.
The central component was the Wall of Hate/Wall of Hope. Students placed hateful, discriminatory and defamatory words on the wall in a public "casting out" of hateful vocabulary from our community. After three days, one side of the wall was covered in cruel and ignorant words.
The wall was torn down at the closing ceremony on Wednesday night, symbolically eradicating these hurtful words from the community and replacing them with words that empower, show compassion and instill hope.
"So many of those words are so ingrained in our vocabulary, we don't even realize we say them, or that they carry so much weight," said Cate Alvarez, a sophomore attending the week's events.
In addition to the Wall, HRL sponsored a "Tunnel of Awareness" Wednesday afternoon. The intense tour led students through typical oppressive issues students may face. Participants were shown the often subtle ways many people are oppressed by our society, causing the students to consider all the ways other people are objectified to hateful acts.
The tunnel included issues such as abusive relationships, racial discrimination, use of bigoted words in every day conversation, homosexual and transgender issues and body image.
Students were given a "passport" to allow them to relate the various forms of oppression not only to themselves but also to their peers. The passport provided each participant with the picture and life story of another college student struggling with these issues.
Lindsey Cooper, Residence Coordinator for Galloway Hall and chairperson of the leadership and diversity committee, coordinated the tunnel.
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Franklin
posted 4/17/08 @ 5:01 PM EST
"Even in a world in which being 'politically correct' has become a core value"
Stop! Stop! You're killing me, I'm dying of laughter! Yes, yes, yes, "a world in which being 'politically correct' is a "core value!"
Chelsea, honey, that world ended when the Berlin Wall came down, when the Soviet Union collapsed, when hundreds of millions of people suddenly were loosed from the "politically correct" unfreedom of criminalized thought. (Continued…)
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