In my three years so far at Fairfield, I have maybe once seen the Quick Center filled to capacity.
But Thursday night at junior Michael Cicirelli’s Project Halo, almost every one of the 750 seats was filled with students, all waiting to hear what it was he had to say.
Cicirelli’s Project Halo was designed to expose students the dangers of hate and the violent abuse that happens all too often in the LGBT community. Cicirelli spoke in particular about his own abuse during high school, something that was both moving and deeply disturbing all at the same time.
It was a depressing talk, no doubt, but Cicirelli managed to infuse it with humor and a lightheartedness which amazed me. For something as serious as the trauma he suffered and the means in which it was inflicted, to be able to speak of it in front of 700-plus students in the way that he did is remarkable and a true testament to Cicirelli’s character.
While this a large part of Cicirelli’s talk, the main point of Project Halo was not just to talk about his own life experiences, it was to open our eyes to the ugly world that’s still out there regarding treatment of LGBT individuals.’
‘Judgment leads to fear and fear leads to destruction,’ Cicirelli said in his talk. ‘Hate is a cancer that is sweeping across the world.’
It is this issue of hate that Project Halo is working to eliminate, although we all know it will never disappear completely.’ That doesn’t mean something like Project Halo is worthless; if anything, it’s the most important thing we can do as students.’ To learn from it and to understand, so that other students won’t have to suffer the same things Michael Cicirelli had to endure.’ It’s our education on this subject that will help us to speak up when others are silent, to be the angels Cicirelli referred to.
‘It was inspiring to hear his story,’ said Jennifer Grimmel ’12.’ ‘He has a lot of courage to be able to tell everyone about it.’
The proof of that was simply in the standing ovation Cicirelli received at the conclusion of his talk. I feel that everyone in the audience was affected by Project Halo, whether it was from Cicirelli’s high school experience or the emotional slideshow he presented at the very end, with gruesome scenes of the violence other LGBT individuals have so fiercely encountered.
‘I hope the community will get the message,’ remarked Alex Cody ’12.’ And for everyone else out there struggling to understand why this happens and wants it to stop, I hope they do too.
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