Students, Faculty Talk Equality

When Keaton Trevena ’16 was asked to consider how he would feel if his most cherished privilege was taken away, he didn’t have to think hypothetically.

While he is a white male from an upper middle class family, Trevena has had another privilege taken away from him all his life.

“I know I may not experience the same hardships that many minorities face, but I know their struggle of trying to hide their true selves from the public eye; the struggle to live and be someone they’re not,” Trevena said in his public speaking performance, which was filmed by Christopher Boulton and his film students. “Being an openly gay male … I should be able to live in a society where I don’t have to worry about being denied marriage or being fired. This goes for minorities, too. We should all have equal rights no matter who we love or the color of our skin.”

Trevena’s performance was part of a cross-campus, cross-discipline, ongoing project called Let’s Talk Equality. The goal was to bring the topic of social justice into the classroom and encourage students to engage in conversations about bias and discrimination related to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age and disability, said Jennie O’Leary, visiting assistant professor of advertising and public relations, who spearheaded the collaboration.

“All the research shows that millennials struggle to talk about issues related to race, privilege and diversity. The idea is that we’re in a post-racial society, and people feel the battle is done,” O’Leary said. “For students, it gets into the icky subject of people being uncomfortable talking about these issues.”

O’Leary was inspired to bring the conversation to the classroom by the volunteer work she does with Equality Florida, a nonprofit organization advocating for gay and lesbian rights.

“But I wanted the conversation to be diverse,” she said, covering social justice as a whole. “The more you can make it a personal experience, the more it will sink in.”

Based on the work students produced and their feedback, the message was received.

“It was honestly one of the most profound experiences that I’ve had as a student filmmaker and as a human being,” said Daniela Serricchio ’15, a film and media arts major, who filmed interviews of five same-sex couples. “We were all nervous but incredibly passionate for the material, and I didn’t realize how easy it would be to just have a conversation about very sensitive subjects with such welcoming people.

“Even behind the camera, the couples offered great advice and support, and I truly am so honored to have met them and to continue to fight for this unbelievably important obstacle that they unfortunately must face,” said Serricchio, of Spring Hill, FL. “There wasn’t a dry eye in that black box studio that weekend, and we all walked away with a deeper understanding of respect, appreciation, and above all, love.”

Gina Vivinetto’s first year writing students completed a critical reflection essay answering the privilege question, the same question Renee Brokaw’s public speaking students addressed in their personal speeches. Aaron Walker’s acting/directing for film students performed selections from Vivinetto’s essays and were paired with privileges that contrasted with their own. In addition, they performed a statement submitted by the mother of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University student who committed suicide as a result of being cyberbullied by his peers.

“Gina Vivinetto’s class was generating all this material, and I wanted to know how we could reflect on it in another light,” said Walker, assistant professor of communication, who was impressed with the depth of involvement and connections the students made throughout the process. “Much of the material was incredibly personal and often revelatory. “

Walker’s film studies students created a documentary, produced in partnership with Equality Florida, featuring same-sex couples discussing why the freedom to marry anyone they chose is important to them. Boulton’s cultural studies students created a short film project imagining a world where gay rights are the norm and straight rights are not. O’Leary’s advertising students created a logo and social media profile images for UT’s Diversity Week.

All of the content is hosted on www.letstalkequality.com as well as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and the professors recently shared their experience at the March 2015 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) in Tampa. They will also host a screening on Tuesday, April 21, at 6:30 p.m. in Reeves Theatre, sponsored by Student Government and co-presented with Equality Florida.

“This is not just for UT. Our goals and deadlines centered around the 4C conference, but we want this to live on and to create a conversation in the UT community to talk about privilege, discrimination and social justice issues,” O’Leary said. “I’d love for this to grow and branch out.”

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