To the Editor:
When The Mirror asked me to comment on the cancellation of the Same-Sex Marriage Forum, I looked at it at from the angle of a student leader. From a student leader’s perspective, I understand and sympathize with the limitations and frustrations that one planning an event can run into.
After the abrupt cancellation of the first event, highly motivated students and faculty worked hand-in-hand to organize a new open forum. No matter what the topic of the forum, the fact that students were involved, got informed and were determined to hold some sort of a stage allowing others to express their outrage is to be commended.
In a university whose mission is founded upon the care of others, it shows that despite the fact that students couldn’t control the cancellation of the original event, we as a student body will fight to have our voices heard, stand up for what we believe is right and support one another. When an issue arises, it is imperative that students are informed, involved and do what they feel is right about it.
As a student representative, many students have come to me expressing concern that the forum was cancelled because of its content and its respective affiliations. It is my hope and trust that the cancellation of this event was not due to its content and rather due to the reasons stated by the administration. The university felt it was in the students’ best interest to cancel the forum; however, my major concern is to always preserve the academic freedoms every student is entitled to as a member of this university.
It is my hope that at a university that promotes and encourages diversity among its students that more events such as this can be planned and executed with more student involvement and voices heard. An important aspect to a Jesuit experience is education outside the classroom, and this entire experience can be seen as an example of that. Every aspect of this incident can be seen as educational. I anticipate that more students will voice their opinions and concerns regarding matters of such importance, and hopefully this will encourage students to get more involved and ensure that their academic freedoms are protected.
Sincerely,
Jess DiBuono ’06
FUSA President-elect
Leave a Reply