In our newsroom discussion on October 26th, 2021, we delve into the feminist issues within stories revolving around the mishandling of Title IX reports, poor college living conditions, and the coup in Sudan. These stories allowed for a diversified exploration of feminism in three different situations.
Local: On October 4th, former senior vice president of communications at Liberty University, Scott Lamb, brought up concerns regarding the mishandling of Title IX violations to the university’s leaders, including the university’s president, Jerry Prevo. At the meeting, Prevo referred to Scott Lamb as a liar and threatened his job. Just two days later, Lamb was forced to resign from his high position at Liberty. After the news of his forced resigning, many female students and alumni of Liberty University have come forward about how they were ultimately threatened into the silence of their sexual harassment and rape reports to Title IX. On October 25th, it was announced that Lamb has decided to sue the university and wants to be paid for lost wages and benefits. It is also an effort to hold the university accountable for their Title IX violations.
https://nypost.com/2021/10/25/liberty-university-sued-for-discouraging-sex-assault-reports/
National: At Howard University in Washington D.C., students have began to protest poor, unlivable housing conditions on-campus. Students have started sleeping in tents outside their dorm buildings forming a “tent city”. It has been brought to light that the housing on-campus has issues with rodent and insect infestation, mold, leaks, and multiple other unhealthy living conditions that have caused health problems among the student body. They plan to continue the protest until the university immediately takes action and works to provide safe living conditions for the students of Howard University.
Global: On October 25th, 2021, Sudan coup leader, Gen Abdel Fattah Burhan, “dissolved civilian rule, arrested political leaders and called a state of emergency”. Gen Burnham attempted to justify the coup saying that it was done to prevent “civil war”. Due to careless military actions, there has been multiple innocent deaths and destruction of the citizens’ properties. Citizens of Sudan have began to protest on the streets, doctors have refused to work at military run hospitals, and Central Bank staff has gone on strike. Due to the events, the US has halted 700 million dollars in aid toward Sudan. “The US has joined the UK, EU, UN and African Union, of which Sudan is a member, in demanding the release of political leaders who are now under house arrest.” World leaders are concerned about the affects and recovery of Sudan and are looking to take action in the situation.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59066654
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59045020
Future Newsrooms: Moving forward with more weekly discussions, students can continue to follow-up on these stories and the progression or regression of feminist issues in regards to these situations.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 