Volume 122 · No. 23
Thursday, September 22, 2016
EST. 1887
lsunow.com
@lsureveille
thedailyreveille
dailyreveille
Provocateur addresses campus University should community on merits of fat shaming rebuke speaker
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
QUINT FORGEY
prior to organize a protest against Yiannopoulos’ message. A GoFundMe called “LSU Milothon: Strength in Diversity” was also set up in protest of the event. The proceeds for the fundraiser will be donated to Louisiana Trans Advocates. At the time of publication, the fund had raised $1,121. LSU Students for Trump organized the event, with a representative from the organization, Remy Garofalo, delivering the opening remarks. In her statement, Garofalo referenced the protests and anger regarding Yiannopoulos’ appearance. She said there were “so many people” trying to keep the event from happening. “Fortunately, they were not successful,” Garofalo said to the audience. “Our organization believes that freedom of speech is
New data from the Office of Budget and Planning depicts a sharp spike in total University enrollment following low first-day figures. On Aug. 22, total University enrollment was tallied at 25,548 students for all undergraduate, graduate and online students, a 9.27 percent drop from first-day enrollment in 2015. The enrollment dip came after a number of tragedies affected the city in July and August. Baton Rouge endured one of its most tumultuous summers on record this year, beginning with the officer-involved shooting death of Alton Sterling on July 5, followed closely by the deaths of three law enforcement officers July 17. Historic flooding in mid-August displaced thousands, affecting approximately 20 percent of main campus employees in addition to a number of students, LSU President F. King Alexander said. The full influence of this summer’s events on student retention and enrollment has yet to be determined. Enrollment numbers have largely rebounded. Between Aug. 22 and Sept. 9, total University enrollment increased to 31,414, though still down .36 percent, or
see YIANNOPOULOS, page 2
see ENROLLMENT, page 2
@QuintForgey
see LETTER, page 2
University enrollment spikes after initial lows BY KATIE GAGLIANO @katie_gagliano
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Conservative cable commentators often derided Jon Stewart, when forced to acknowledge his effect on the public discourse, for reminding them that he was only a comedian. I always thought it was a cheap cop out for the former “Daily Show” host to hide behind that label. It rendered his commentary immediately void. Whenever Stewart deployed that excuse, whatever he said no longer mattered. His musings were suddenly a small part of one big joke. Still, his and other comedians’ brands of performance have a netpositive effect: to produce a laugh, even if they take a less than politically correct route to land one. A performance from Milo Yiannopoulos — the alt-right antagonist who spoke last night in the Student Union Theatre — isn’t meant to make people laugh, unless you consider the mere sight of an overweight woman doing yoga funny enough to generate an audible human response. The purpose of Yiannopoulos’ rhetoric is to upset other people. There’s no punchline — just bruised egos and the type of
ACADEMICS
HASKELL WHITTINGTON / The Daily Reveille
BY NATALIE ANDERSON @natalie_mechell When a British man dressed in drag took the stage in the Student Union Theatre, a crowd filled with “Make America Great Again” and Trump 2016 attire, as well as Harambe and anti-Hillary Clinton T-shirts, went wild. Conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos delivered a “lecture” on fat shaming and body image Wednesday night in the Student Union Theatre as part of his “The Dangerous Faggot Tour.” Several people took the stage before the main event, one of whom was Benjamin Acosta, a University assistant professor in comparative politics. Before introducing Yiannopoulos, Acosta told the audience to “be the best version of yourself and resist all the f***tard liberals.” Before beginning his speech,
Yiannopoulos took the stage in a white ball gown and blonde wig – which he called “full Marilyn Monroe drag” on Facebook. He sang the national anthem, then launched into his rhetoric on body positivity. “Being fat is not fine and will never be fine,” Yiannopoulos said to a packed theater. “And 100 percent of fat people are f***ing disgusting.” Yiannopoulos said fat people cost the nation an estimated $210 billion a year. Fat-shaming is effective because obesity leads to many diseases, and potentially death, he said. “You may think I’m cruel to fat people, but it’s because I care,” Yiannopoulos said. His stop at the University sparked controversy, as members of LGBTQ organizations and the University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs met several days
STUDENT LIFE
Office of Diversity holds open house, encourages conversation
BY LAUREN HEFFKER @laurheffker
In its annual open house on Wednesday, the Office of Diversity opened its doors to students and faculty to discuss and promote campus diversity. Students were able to learn about programs the Office of Diversity has to offer, including events at the Women’s Center, African American Cultural Center and Office of Multicultural Affairs. The Office of Diversity aims to make the University comfortable for all by celebrating diversity with its motto “Diversity is good for everyone.” If students haven’t learned to live, play and study with those of different backgrounds in college, they won’t be prepared for a diverse workplace, Vice Provost for Diversity Dereck Rovaris said.
“If you come to LSU and you leave this place and you don’t have an understanding about diversity, then we’ve failed,” he said. Although the University saw a “slight tick” in overall enrollment, diversity continues improving every year, LSU President F. King Alexander said. This incoming freshman class is the largest African-American class in the University’s history and the largest Hispanic entering class. “In the next lifetime, many of our graduates are going to be working in a world that looks like the United Nations,” Alexander said. “I think part of the educational process is ensuring that our students know what the world is going to be like.” University administration is working to close the gap between marginalized and minority
students and the white student population, Alexander said. Students are more likely to respect each other when they know each other and interact together, he said. In not fostering a diverse learning environment, students are ill-equipped to enter the real world at the fault of the University, Alexander said. Baton Rouge had a tumultuous summer, including budget cuts, the shootings of Alton Sterling and three police officers and the August flooding. With the start of the semester and return to routine, the effects of these events can become an afterthought in people’s minds. “We get on with life, and that’s good, because it is a sense of normalcy for many of those that are affected,” Rovaris said. “But, we
see DIVERSITY, page 2
JORDAN MARCELL / The Daily Reveille
Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer Dereck J. Rovaris, Sr. meets with attending faculty members on Wednesday during the Office of Diversity open house in Thomas Boyd Hall.