MTV to sponsor discrimination
forum tonight
By Kurt Esposito
Assistant
Campus Editor
As part of the Fight for Your Rights campaign,
MTV will host a forum on discrimination and hate crimes tonight in Stewart
Center.
"It'll generate a discussion that I'm not sure
is happening on campus," said Jay Mermoud, BoilerTV manager.
The event is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Stewart
Center, Room 302. It is being held in correlation with the Judy Shepard
speech Wednesday night. MTV's forum will be televised on the residence
halls' cable system on channel 18.
Mermoud said it is important that MTV is sponsoring
the Fight for Your Rights forum because it brings more recognition to
the event.
"You can put up a poster about how you're going
to have a discussion on campus … but by MTV being involved it really
takes it to the next level," said Mermoud.
Liz Freirich, director of operations for the education
division of the Anti-Defamation League, said it is important for MTV
to become involved in venues like this because the channel has influence
over young generations.
Mermoud contacted executives at MTV to see if they
would like to help sponsor the Shepard speech. The executives offered
to sponsor the movie and discussion instead.
The event will start with a showing of MTV's TV
movie "Anatomy of a Hate Crime: The Matthew Shepard Story." The movie
shows Matthew Shepard's final hours and the events leading to his murder.
Afterward, a representative from the Anti-Defamation
League of Chicago will facilitate an open forum on discrimination and
prejudice. In the forum members of the Purdue community will be encouraged
to discuss examples of bias and prejudice they have witnessed on the
Purdue campus.
Also during the forum, the Kitchen Table will sponsor
four homosexual men and women who will discuss why they are gay and
what their lives are like.
Tyrell Collins, co-founder and president of the
Kitchen Table, said the homosexuals will offer insight to the Purdue
community about their lifestyle.
The Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand Against
Discrimination campaign is a yearlong campaign designed to raise awareness
of hate crimes. It is designed to empower young people to fight discrimination
in their communities and in themselves.
MTV launched the campaign in January with the first
airing of the Matthew Shepard story. It was followed by 18 hours of
commercial-free airtime, in which only text describing various accounts
of senseless attacks and murders motivated by hate.
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