Discussions, Performances, Interactive Events Part of Second Annual “United Against Hate Week”

Drama, lectures, creative expression, and musical performances will be part of Lafayette’s second annual United Against Hate Week” April 15-19.

All events are free and open to the public.

“United Against Hate Week is a series of events designed to focus on the causes of hate and discrimination so that they can be understood and then slowly broken down,” says organizer Alanna Cleary, a junior chemical engineering major from Bloomsburg, Pa., and secretary of the student group QUEST (QUestioning Established Sexual Taboos). “The week is also intended to celebrate diversity through a series of multicultural events.”

The week’s activities will begin with an informal gathering noon today on the Quad. “The main purpose of the kick-off is to encourage students to express their feelings on hate and diversity,” says Cleary, a Marquis Scholar. “There will be a canvas and paints for people to draw or write whatever they’re thinking. There will also be a microphone available if anyone wants to share experiences, stories, poetry, etc. relating to hate. It’s a very low-key and relaxed event, which is designed to begin the week off with a personal touch.”

The keynote event will take place in the Farinon College Center snackbar 8 p.m. Friday, April 19, featuring singer-songwriter Randi Driscoll. Her song “What Matters” is a memorial for Matthew Shepherd, a University of Wyoming student murdered in a hate crime. All profits from the single benefit the Matthew Shepherd Foundation. Driscoll performs numerous songs relating to AIDS/HIV, domestic violence, and prejudice in a concert that combines story telling and music.

Named San Diego’s “up and coming acoustic act” in the September 1997 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Driscoll has opened for Pat Benatar, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Bruce Hornsby, Joan Jett, and Jackson Browne. She has performed at the Millennium March on Washington, D.C. and at the Lincoln Center. She is a five-time San Diego Music Award nominee and Femmusic.com’s Artist of the Year in 2000. In January 2000, Driscoll won the IAM.com national talent search, competing against 2,000 artists to earn a slot performing her own original song in a commercial directed by Spike Lee.

Women of the Calabash, an African percussion group that plays music from Africa, the Caribbean, and the U.S., will perform 7 p.m. Wednesday on the Quad. (The alternate location in the event of rain is Marquis Hall.) “Their performance is interwoven with informal dialogue highlighting the history and playing techniques of various instruments,” says Cleary. “This award-winning group has played in many famous places and with many famous musicians in the traditional music circuit.”

A “Diversity Roundtable” will be moderated by Carrie Spell, dean of intercultural development, 7 p.m. Thursday in the auditorium of Kirby Hall of Civil Rights. The discussion will feature panelists Robert Weiner, Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Professor of History; Bryan Washington, associate professor of English; Gerald Gill ’70, associate professor of history at Tufts University and Massachusetts College Professor of the Year in 1995 and 1999; Ronald Hinton ’03, a religion major from Paterson, N.J.; Jenna Menard ’03, a psychology major from Holicong, Pa.; Jen Carty ’04, an English major from Egg Harbor Township, N.J.; and Emefa Woananu ’03, a government and law major from Trenton, N.J.

Hans Wuerth, professor emeritus of German language and literature at Moravian College, will speak on “Euthanasia and the Holocaust” noon Friday, April 19. Wuerth has lectured frequently on a variety of Holocaust-related topics and on the history of national socialism. He has organized and led about 20 trips to Europe, mostly with students. All of these trips included stops at former concentration camps, places of persecution, memorials and museums. Wuerth also has led annual student trips to Washington, D.C. to visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. He taught at Moravian for 32 years until his retirement last year.

The full schedule of events for United Against Hate Week:
* Noon Monday: Kick-off with painting and open microphone on the Quad. Sponsored by QUEST.
* Noon Tuesday: “Racial Skits,” Farinon College Center atrium. Sponsored by Association of Black Collegians.
* 1 p.m. Tuesday: Kite flying on the Quad. Sponsored by CHILL (Creating a Harmonious, Interesting, and Livable Lafayette).
* 4:10 p.m. Tuesday: Lecture by Susan Basow, Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychology, on “Tyranny of Thinness,” explaining how women are made to hate their own bodies, Kirby Hall of Civil Rights auditorium. Sponsored by Association for Lafayette Women.
* 7:30 p.m. Tuesday: Talk by representative from the August Survivors Center in Easton, Kirby Hall of Civil Rights auditorium. Sponsored by Student Government.
* Noon Wednesday: Brown bag discussion in Interfaith Chapel, Hogg Hall, by members of the Alternative School Break Club who performed service projects in Honduras, Arizona, and Virginia. Lunch may be brought or purchased for $3.
* 2 p.m. Wednesday: Drum Circle, with participants banging on drums and discussing issues as they wish. Sponsored by CHILL.
* 6 p.m. Wednesday: Diversity barbecue on the Quad. Participants will focus on why hate exists through stories, facts, and statistics on toothpicks throughout all of the food at the dinner.
* 7 p.m. Wednesday: Performance by African percussion group Women of the Calabash on the Quad. Sponsored by Newman Association and QUEST.
* Noon Thursday: “Causes of Hate: An International Perspective” brown bag discussion with Illan Peleg, Charles A. Dana Professor of Government and Law, Katalin Fabian, assistant professor of government and law, and a third professor.
* 7 p.m. Thursday: Diversity Roundtable, Kirby Hall of Civil Rights auditorium. Sponsored by Student Government.
* Noon Friday: “Euthanasia and the Holocaust” talk by Hans Wuerth, Moravian College professor emeritus of German language and literature, Interfaith Chapel, Hogg Hall. A prayer will be said for Holocaust Remembrance Day, which takes place Saturday. Sponsored by Hillel Society.
* 4:30 p.m. Friday: Shabbat Services, Interfaith Chapel, Hogg Hall. Sponsored by Hillel Society.
* 8 p.m. Friday: Randi Driscoll concert, Farinon College Center snackbar.

Cleary is president of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society and a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. She has assisted faculty with research as an EXCEL Scholar and will conduct her second summer internship with Merck & Co. this year. Cleary is treasurer of the Pep Band, secretary for Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection, and an active member of the Newman Association, Concert Band, Woodwind Quintet, College Orchestra, and Marquis Players pit orchestra. In addition, she volunteers for the Bushkill stream monitoring and Lehigh Canal cleanup group coordinated by Lafayette’s Landis Community Outreach Center.