This past Wednesday, March 23, the Office of Multicultural Student Life and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Services hosted a discussion regarding recent headlines involving pop singer Kesha. The forum was held in the Multicultural Student Lounge as part of the two offices’ “What in the World?” current event discussion series. Each month, the series features a discussion highlighting relevant topics, sometimes pertaining to the special recognition that each month brings.. “The Kesha Issue” event highlighted Women’s History Month. Arianna Sessoms, the graduate assistant program educator for the Office of Sexual Assault & Violence Prevention at UMaine, believes that appropriate forums for discussion on the topic are crucial to ending the issue of sexual assault. “The Kesha issue is important, in my opinion, because when issues of sexual assault and/or domestic or dating violence appear in the media, there seems to be a lot of misinformation spread, as well as victim-blaming and ****-shaming, especially when the victim reports the abuse. We can begin changing these views in our society by educating our local community and encouraging the importance of supporting victims and survivors of sexual abuse on campus,” Sessoms said in an email. “Violence thrives in silence,” Sessoms added. “Therefore discussing these issues in a public forum and really listening to one another will help us all become more knowledgeable and compassionate individuals and activists for social change.”

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Glad this issue is encouraging thought provoking, productive discussion amongst the worlds intellectuals!