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Prejudices against race, religion, sexual orientation and even Greek life were discussed during Monday's Six O'clock Series at the HUB Ohio Room.
Called From Intolerance to Understanding: The Intersection of Race, Sexual Orientation, Gender, Religion and Violence, the program featured four panelists with expertise in fighting bigotry.
Each panelist approached the topic from their own perspective as professionals connected with the subject. The four were Dina Clark, project director of World of Difference, part of the Anti-Defamation League that fights anti-Semitism; Billy Jackson, a Pittsburgh filmmaker who produced a documentary about the death of a black man by Pittsburgh police; and Richard Pitt Jr., a sociology professor at Vanderbilt University. Melanie Hildebrandt, an IUP sociology professor, hosted.
The title was taken from the photo exhibit of the same name on display in the Keith Hall lawn. The exhibit features photos of hate crime scenes taken by artist Lynn Johnson.
Winslow urged future teachers to consider their impact on children.
"All children have to learn," she said, "and who better to learn from than someone who cares about them?"
She said that the museum she worked at received a comment via e-mail stating that having young employees with tattoos and piercings was inappropriate. She said the museum considered the complaint, and then decided it was not.
"It's important for our children to see people who don't look like them," she said, "as long as it's not profane or vulgar."
After the panelists introduced their work, questions were taken from the audience.
Samantha Pavlot (senior, marketing) asked about what one can do when facing discrimination for choosing to be a member of a group instead of being born that way.
"For us as Greeks," she said, "we are discriminated against. We do a lot of philanthropy work, but it gets discounted by the campus."
After the program, she said that all campuses tend to be like this, but felt that the stigma is unfair.
Pitt responded by asking how many in the audience believed that 70 percent of blacks were born to two-parent married households.
Actually, he then pointed out, the statistic is the other way around: 30 percent are.
"Did racism cause the 70 percent of black children to be born out of wedlock?" he asked. "Did white men do that? No."
His point, he said, was that members of any group have to be aware that they are representing more than themselves to outsiders.
"It creates all kinds of extra work for those of us who don't fit the stereotype to undo," he said.
Jackson encouraged members to act positively.
Raymond Bynes (senior, sociology) commented on racism and ignorance on campus.
"I've had situations where I've been in a classroom and a white girl asked me, 'How'd you get that A?'" he said. "I studied."
Bynes would like for black history to be integrated into IUP's liberal studies curriculum.
Pitt encouraged students to speak up on the issue.
"Universities will change to meet the needs of their students," he said.
Bynes, speaking privately afterward, said that while he was impressed with the candor of the panelists, he was less so with the audience.
"People were scared to voice their opinions about the topics," he said. "I think a lot of white people were afraid to offend black people."
Racism at IUP was also on the mind of Marquicia Scott (junior, psychology).
"I came to school thinking that I'd be introduced to people with different backgrounds," she said. "I feel like the black girl you can work with in class, but you won't introduce to your friends."
Overall, the program had a cautiously optimistic tone.
"Try to affect change where you can affect change," said Clark.
"Ultimately, there isn't a quick A, B, C fix."
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