Dustin Lance Black - "Polarizer" of Holland, MI
Hope College Bans Forum with Oscar-Winning Screenwriter of "Milk"
Oct 31, 2009
Hope College's Sexuality Roundtable, aware that Hollywood screenwriter Dustin Lance Black was in the Holland area shooting his new film, What's Wrong With Virginia, invited him earlier this fall to lead students in a discussion on the issue of homosexuality. The discussion was to take place after a viewing of his Oscar-winning film Milk, a biography of Harvey Milk, the first openly homosexual elected American politician.
To the shock and offense of the Roundtable and many other Hope students, the college's administration denied the request for such a forum, and yet will allow Black to meet with a screenwriting class - granted he focus his talk about the processes of screenwriting.
Controversy Created for Fear of Controversy
A representative of the Sexuality Roundtable reported that the administration's reasons for denying their request for a dialogue with Black were that the writer's advocacy would be too strong for the campus and that he would "polarize" the campus, "prompting counter responses from other groups that would further impede the discussion of these emotionally charged topics." Needless to say, this statement upset many students at Hope College because of its disregard for their maturity as well as its oversight of the very nature of a structured, if controversial, discussion.
It seems as though the school's administration, in an attempt to avoid hearing voices of dissent raised in controversy, has itself created a controversy and raised voices of dissent. "The Administration is censoring academic discussion of one of the great social issues of our time," saidd Timothy Brandt, member of the Sexuality Roundtable. Indeed, by allowing Black to speak to the screenwriting class but not the Roundtable, the administration appears to be advocating the avoidance of the topic of sexuality altogether - that it is in every situation inappropriate.
As reported in the Hope College newspaper, The Anchor, Dean of Students Richard Frost justified the administration's decision in terms of what they feel to be appropriate realms of conversation. "They have a class that deals with screenwriting, and so there's a natural tie in what (Black) would talk about in terms of the process," Frost said. "That would be an appropriate thing to talk about. For example, if there's a political science class about elections, or politics, or how you do grassroots movement, how you do political organizing, how you do political campaigns, (that) would be a great thing for him to talk about because (Milk) has parts of those things in it."
The students would argue, though, that while Milk does have parts of those things in it, it also - wholly - addresses the issue of homosexuality in America, an issue that deserves reasonable discussion.
Sources
http://anchor.hope.edu/Anchor%20Issues%20Fall%202009/Issue_123_06.pdf
http://www.queerty.com/dustin-lance-black-is-too-polarizing-for-a-college-campus-20091027/
http://www.queerty.com/dustin-lance-black-is-too-polarizing-for-a-college-campus-20091027/
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