Volume 122 · No. 54
Friday, November 11, 2016
EST. 1887
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@lsureveille
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photos RYAN MCCARBLE / The Daily Reveille
LSU community reacts to President-elect Trump, voices concerns over mogul’s divisive rhetoric Students protest in the Quad, initiate conversation on inclusivity
Students discuss election’s contentious outcome in open forum BY LAUREN HEFFKER @laurheffker University students troubled by President-elect Donald Trump’s historic victory on Tuesday gathered to discuss how to move forward as a community. The forum, called “The Unapologetic Conversation,” was hosted by the Office of Multicultural Affairs in the African American Cultural Center Thursday. Student leaders of campus organizations like the Black Student Union, the NAACP at LSU
and the Black Artist Initiative moderated the discourse. The dialogue involved small group discussion, a question and answer portion and a talk from Professor Roland Mitchell from the School of Education. Organizers held the event as a continuation of Thursday’s student rally, allowing participants to vent in a safe space and plan and strategize for the future. Students expressed their personal reactions to the election and talked about how to participate in positive political discourse.
BY WILLIAM TAYLOR POTTER and ROSE VELAZQUEZ @wmtaylorpotter | @Rosee_Vee A diverse crowd of students formed a circle in the University’s Quad Thursday at noon to protest Donald Trump’s election to the nation’s highest office. The protest was organized by the Black Student Union and the NAACP at LSU, BSU president Destinee Merida said. The event featured several student speakers, a moment of silence and
see FORUM, page 2
a chant of “We’re gonna be alright,” led by LSU Student Government director of policy Monturios Howard. “It was me and Howard that came to together to think about it,” Merida said. “It was literally us talking at the [African American Cultural Center], and I was like, ‘We just have to do it.’” Howard, who is also the president of the NAACP at LSU, said the event was a demonstration to “show people that your life matters.” He said the protest wasn’t to say they
see PROTEST, page 2
BATON ROUGE COMMUNITY
Women’s Center, LGBTQ organizations host self-defense training BY KATIE GAGLIANO @katie_gagliano Following a heated election season featuring sometimes hostile rhetoric toward LGBTQ people and potentially discriminatory policy proposals, local organizations are working together to reassure and educate LGBTQ individuals living in fear. The LSU Women’s Center, in partnership with Louisiana Trans Advocates, Equality Louisiana and the LGBTQ+ Alumni Chapter of LSU, is hosting a selfdefense and de-escalation training seminar for LGBTQ students and community members Saturday. The event will include training from Baton Rouge Krav
Maga instructors and techniques for preventing physical violence. Peter Jenkins, University alumni and president of the LGBTQ+ Alumni Chapter, said the idea for the self-defense training began to develop after they were harassed while shopping at a local Target. A photo was circulated on Facebook of Jenkins, who is transgender, standing near a women’s changing room sign. The post was captioned to insinuate Jenkins was entering a women’s bathroom, and numerous death threats were made. After the incident, Jenkins said they started thinking about personal safety and whether
they would be able to defend themselves. They brought the conversation to Louisiana Trans Advocates and other advocacy groups, and that’s when they realized a self-defense seminar could be an important service in the community. According to a June 2016 New York Times article, LGBTQ individuals are twice as likely to be targeted for hate crimes as African-Americans and LGBTQ hate crimes have surpassed the number committed against Jews. Though Jenkins said they had not heard of local instances of hate crime, the possibility still exists. “We’re doing this program so that when someone is in
that situation — because unfortunately we know it’s going to happen more often now — that they’re in a position to protect themselves,” Jenkins said. “I wish that we were in a position in our country where we weren’t having to teach each other to defend ourselves against hate crimes and bigotry, but we’re not there yet.” Women’s Center director Summer Steib said she was approached by students and faculty with similar safety concerns in the spring as heated debates about transgender bathroom access swept the country. The community partners decided the best
see SELF-DEFENSE, page 2
SELF-DEFENSE AND DE-ESCALATION TRAINING SEMINAR FOR LGBTQ STUDENTS WHEN SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2016 11 AM EVENT WILL INCLUDE DEFENSE TRAINING FROM BATON ROUGE KRAV MAGA INSTRUCTORS AND TECHNIQUES FOR PREVENTING PHYSICAL VIOLENCE