Students to participate in Day of Silence

Submitted by Vic Schleiger
Phone: (907) 455-8005
04/19/06

Get ready for the campus to be a little quieter.

On April 26, students from UAF will be joining students across the nation in a day of silence to protest the discrimination, harassment and abuse--in effect the silencing--faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and their allies in schools.

The Day of Silence, a project of the national Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network, will take place from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. April 26. The event is sponsored at UAF by the LGBT & Allies student organization

Participants will be wearing T-shirts that will be available for sale and pink or black tape over their mouths, and will be passing out ’speaking cards’ that read:

"Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the silence faced by LGBT youth and their allies in schools. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice and discrimination. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today. What are you going to do to end the silence?"

At 8 a.m. participants will meet in the alumni lounge in Constitution Hall for a small breakfast and to pick up materials. Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., participants are encouraged to disperse around the campus, attend class or go around town. If you go to town please have at least two people with you. Between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. participants will reconvene at the alumni lounge for lunch and "Breaking the Silence."

GLSEN’s 2003 National School Climate survey found that more than 4 out of 5 LGBT students report verbal, sexual or physical harassment at school and 29 percent report missing at least a day of school in the past month out of fear for their personal safety. The Day of Silence is one way students and their allies are making anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and name calling unacceptable in America’s schools.

For more information contact fbagla@uaf.edu or call (907) 455-8005 and leave a message for Victoria.