Professors Gladstone Fluney Hutchinson and George Panichas Named to Easton Human Relations Commission

Gladstone Fluney Hutchinson, associate professor of economics and business, and George Panichas, Hogg Professor and head of philosophy, have recently become very involved in the well-being of the Easton community after being named to the newly-created Easton Human Relations Commission.

The nine-member panel, which was appointed by Easton City Council, is designed to enforce the idea that the city promotes diversity and does not tolerate discrimination. The purpose is to ensure that all residents are protected against illegal discrimination of any form, including race, color, sex, religion, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, mental or physical disability, and are afforded equal opportunity in employment, housing and use of public accommodations.

“In addition to the fact that it will hopefully provide appropriate remedies to persons who have been treated wrongfully, it will contribute to the perception that Easton is a welcoming place, a place where a full and diverse range of persons are accepted and protected,” says Panichas.

All members of the commission are residents of Easton. In addition to the representatives from Lafayette, the panel includes Nadine Loane, coordinator of Easton’s Weed and Seed program; Louella Morris, neighborhood activist involved in the Weed and Seed program; Lynn Rogers, pharmacist and minority-rights activist; Kim Ng, owner of Kim’s Healing Center; The Rev. Earl Ball, Grand View Hospital’s director of pastoral care and chaplaincy; Rabbi Jonathan Gerard, Temple Covenant of Peace; and Monica Samayoa, co-founder of the minority rights organization El Puente.

“The Commission will provide timely resolutions to discrimination disputes, thus preventing the deterioration of goodwill among different groups in the community,” says Hutchinson, who has also served on the boards of several social service agencies in the Easton area.

Both Panichas and Hutchinson previously served on an informal committee assembled by Easton Mayor Phil Mitman, which drafted the law that created the commission. Only a handful of Pennsylvania cities, including Allentown, have similar commissions.

“Our involvement should make it clear that Lafayette’s faculty are indeed members of the community and care about the quality of life of all its citizens,” Panichas says. “In addition, it’s important for members of the community to know that Lafayette’s faculty can and do provide important resources for the city.”

Prior to the creation of this commission, Easton residents could file complaints with the state Human Relations Commission, but having a local commission speeds up the process. Once the members of Easton’s commission are trained and ready to begin work, the commission will investigate complaints and try to resolve them within two months.

“I hope my additional involvement in Easton will lead to new opportunities for Lafayette and its students to serve the community of Easton,” Hutchinson says. “I am honored to have this special opportunity to serve the community in ways that are very important to me and very consistent with my sense of citizenship. I look forward to giving my best effort and making my best contribution to the public good of Easton.”

As former dean of studies, Hutchinson coordinated activities for Lafayette’s first-year orientation experience “Imagining America” for classes 2007-09. In 2001, he led a contingent consisting of Sarah Lowery ’02, Harsh Agrawal ’01, and Ute Schumacher, visiting assistant professor of economics and business, that helped shape Jamaica’s fiscal policy based on research done at Lafayette. He has also mentored numerous students in research projects including Emily Fogelberg ’05, who graduated with A.B. degrees in English and history; Katie Brown ’04, who graduated with A.B. degrees in economics & business and history; andCrystal Taylor ’03, who graduated with an A.B. mathematics.

Panichas has taught ethics at Lafayette for a good portion of the last 25 years and has published many articles on human rights in both academic journals and newspapers. He headed the interdisciplinary Ethics Project, which sponsored talks, seminars for faculty, and related activities. He has also guided student research such as an honors project on economic justice with Amanda Roth ’04, a philosophy and women’s studies graduate who won the prestigious Jacob K. Javits Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education in 2004.