CLARION – On Oct. 20, Clarion University will encourage behavior of acceptance and honor the individuals who recently took their lives as a result of bullying during a day-long awareness event on campus. The event, sponsored by Transitions Services and ALLIES, coincides with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Spirit Day.  Chartwells will sponsor refreshments. The event is free and open to the public.
At the event, participants will be encouraged to:
- Wear purple in honor of the suicide victims as well as countless others around the world.
- Take the tolerance and acceptance pledge and receive a purple wristband (in Gemmell Student Complex throughout the day).
- Cover your doors with purple paper as an outward sign of support. A large roll of purple paper will be available.
- Make an impression by leaving a handprint on the giant awareness banner.
- Watch “Out in the Silence,” a documentary that focuses on the trials and tribulations of a gay young man from the Oil City area who, along with his mother, battled school officials following attacks at his school after he came out as gay. The documentary will play continuously between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. in 279 Gemmell Student Complex. Students and staff will be available to facilitate discussions.
- Join others at an evening vigil, featuring poetry readings, testimonials, reflections, and reading of the names of victims (outside Gemmell Student Complex).
“Out in the Silence,” produced in association with the Sundance Institute, premiered in the 2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at New York’s Lincoln Center and has been broadcast on PBS. Exploring topics ranging from religion, safe schools and economic development, to discrimination, tolerance and understanding, “Out in the Silence” is a tool for bringing people of all ages together to begin the process of building bridges rather than walls on issues that divide communities.
Clarion University’s Transitions Services conducts the successful “Transitions” program, a four-year, student success initiative that reflects the collective wisdom of Clarion faculty, staff, and students. The goal of Transitions is to help students stay in college and develop permanent ties with Clarion University through co-curricular programming and activities. For more information on Transitions, go to: www.clarion.edu/transitions.
ALLIES is an organization of Clarion University gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students, as well as straight students, faculty and staff, and members of the Clarion community who have a collective desire to promote inclusion and acceptance for all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
