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Although Thursday's panel discussion about diversity and social justice at Seton Hill University was held to honor Martin Luther King Jr., another name loomed large over the event: Donald J. Trump.
In her opening remarks to a crowd of about 200 students at the private Catholic liberal arts school, university President Mary Finger said the nation is divided in many respects.
She had once hoped the election of Barack Obama in 2008 would be a major step toward a post-racial society, she said. “It's seems remarkably naive now to believe that was possible,” she said.
She encouraged discussion and debate, but reminded that truth was the ultimate goal.
“‘Alternative Facts' have no place in an institution of higher education,” she said, referring to a term one Trump staff member used recently.
The event was centered on a famous quote by King: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” It began with a group of dance students performing to Michael Jackson's “Man in the Mirror.” No one at the forum spoke up for the new president.
Four panel members answered questions from students about how to stand up for their beliefs. They were Debra Mason, Seton Hill University diversity officer; Jeff Mallory, director of Multicultural Affairs at Duquesne University; and Seton Hill seniors Emily Frost and Jeff Bennett. Mason, Mallory and Bennett are black. Frost is white.
“We definitely have moved forward as a society. My biggest fear is regression,” Bennett said.
Frost agreed.
“There's always a fear for me of two steps forward, one step back,” she said.
Mason said the civil rights dream is still a long way off.
“If Martin Luther King were alive today, he'd be very disappointed,” she said. She focused on the importance of standing up for others.
“We need to all come together and be concerned for each other, and not just worried about our own personal safety and our own personal status. We shouldn't pretend that things are not happening here.”
Mason and Mallory can remember plenty of times they witnessed the effects of a racially-divided nation first-hand. Mallory attended a Southern high school where it was a tradition for students to display Confederate flags, he said. Mason talked about working at Xerox, where she saw white employees promoted more quickly than their black counterparts.
One student in the audience, senior Fito Andre, who is black, remarked that standing up for one's beliefs is difficult, but that's what makes it worthwhile.
“Growth and comfort, they don't coexist,” he said.
Mallory said it's possible to take action without being reactive. Angry outbursts are not the answer, but compassionate conversations can lead to progress, he said.
“There's common ground that we can all see, and dignity and respect if we respect other people,” he said.
Mason agreed that empathy is essential.
“If you're a Trump supporter, I still love you,” she said. “I think you're a little confused. But that's the great thing about our country — we can coexist.”
Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6646 or jtierney@tribweb.com.
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