THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2008
NEWS
QUEERS AND ALLIES
3A
Group takes vow of silence DAY of SILENCE
KU Queers and Allies sponsors a Day of Silence today to raise awareness about bullying against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students in schools across the country.
Students who participate in the day do not speak all day, unless it involves work or class. Participants will carry cards to explain why they are silent.
Megan Vail, activism chair for KU Queers and Allies, said the Day of Silence hadn't been a tradition at the University but that she wanted to start one.
This year's event is being held in remembrance of Lawrence King, a middle school boy who was murdered by a classmate because King asked him to be his valentine.
Daryl Presgraves, spokesman for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network said the organization has sponsored the nationwide day since 2001. He said the organization concentrated mostly on schools with kindergarten through 12th grade, but that the event was started in a college at the University of Virginia.
"A lot of college students took heart in the idea that this was a way to positively bring attention to a problem they saw on campus." Presgraves said.
He said students from more than 6,500 schools across the nation registered online to participate in the day. He said it was a simple way people could show support for the
Silent for Lawrence King
Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence (DOS), a national youth movement bringing attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by anti-LGBT bullying, name-calling and harassment. This year's DOS is held in memory of Lawrence King, a 15 year-old student who was killed in school because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today.
What are you going to do to end the Silence?
Students participating in the Day of Silence will carry the above card. The card is an explanation of the Day of Silence and why students are participating in it.
LGBT community and also make schools better.
Maggie Childs, KU Queers and Allies adviser and professor of east
asian languages, said she knew students participated in the event in years past, but that it would be higher profile this year.
"We're in a liberal town on a liberal campus, but there's still hostility and homophobia," Childs said.
Childs said she the Day of Silence was a paradox
Vail said that during Gay Pride
"We're in a liberal town on a liberal campus, but there's still hostility and homophobia."
MAGGIE CHILDS Professor of east asian languages
Week earlier this month, students ripped downprideflags around campus. She said the University still needed work if people were still acting out against the LGBT community. She said
because it was people choosing to be silent to raise awareness about people who feel it's necessary to keep quiet about their sexual orientation.
the students were caught and had a public apology letter posted on the Queers and Allies Web site.
—Edited by Russell Davies
Student Senate makes cabinet nominations
Joint Senate met Wednesday at the Kansas Union. Student body president elect Adam McGonigle made nominations for the executive staff.
Aly Rodee
Student executive committee chairman - Mason Heilman Communications director Ally Rodee
Deputy communications director — Michael Wade Smith
Executive secretary — Elizabeth Johnson
Legislative director — Michael Gray
Community affairs director — Ryan Lawler
Treasurer — Alex Porte
Assistant treasurer — Mitch Knopp
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Knopp is appointed on an interim basis. He will serve as assistant treasurer through the summer and must be reappointed at the beginning of the fall semester.
Brenna Hawley
》 OBITUARY
Journalism lecturer was a 'problem solver'
Journalism lecturer Christy Bradford, right, displays a certificate of appreciation from Lt. Gen. David Petraeus at a March 29, 2006, ceremony. Bradford, who had been at KU since 1999, died early Thursday morning of an apparent heart attack.
BY JESSICA WICKS
jwicks@kansan.com
Journalism lecturer Christy Bradford died unexpectedly early Thursday morning of an apparent heart attack.
David Guth, associate dean of journalism, said Bradford was one of the most versatile instructors in the school.
"To make a baseball analogy, she was a utility infielder," Guth said, "I could put her anywhere on the field."
Bradford had 35 years of experience in journalism including working as a managing editor of The Detroit News when it won a Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting in 1994.
Bradford moved to Kansas City with her husband in 1999 and requested to teach at the University of Kansas. She was immediately added to the faculty.
"She brought not only her experience but a real sense of humanity to the classroom," Guth said.
What Bradford became known for within the school was her work as the multicultural scholars advisor, boasting that her department had the highest multicultural GPA last year, according to Ann Brill, dean of journalism.
One of her multicultural students, Kim Wallace, Fort Smith, Ark., senior, credited Bradford for helping her get through her freshman and sophomore years.
"She was really proud of those students." Brill said.
"She was the person you went to when everything was falling apart," Wallace said. "She would tell you
everything is OK and help you figure out how to get through it."
Gabriella Souza, KU alumna,
said, "I felt I could go to her to just complain or unwind. She was a problem solver"
Souza, who served as editor-in-chief of The University Daily Kansan last year and is now a staff writer at the News-Press in Fort Meyers, Fla, said that she would not be a journalist without Bradford.
"I just wouldn't; there is no question." Souza said.
Souza said that Bradford was an amazing example of what a woman journalist could be.
"When she went into the business, it was dominated by men and she was able to succeed and do well," Souza said.
"Then she came here to teach, but she stayed connected to the outside world and that kept her credible."
Souza said that Bradford had a special way of teaching.
"She never pushed her own agenda," Souza said. "She always wanted you to find your own story and learn."
Bob Giles, curator at Harvard University's Nieman Institute, worked closely with Bradford hiring her at the Democrat and
Chronicle in 1981 before they both went to The Detroit News in 1986.
"She was a strong right hand, a solid editor and she had an instinct for a good story." Giles said. "She was always a teaching editor and that reflected and carried over to her classes at KU"
Giles said Bradford was a very private person.
"Although you didn't know her innermost thoughts, she had a great following of people that cared about her." he said.
Guth said Bradford mentioned she wasn't well feel on Wednesday and arranged a work day for her students on Thursday so she could go to the doctor.
The school is now working to notify Bradford's students.
Dean Guth said that in Bradford's memory, students in her classes should receive a sense of continuity and receive the fair credits they deserved.
"We wee it to Christy to honor what she believed in — that is teaching good journalism — and to move on. This is a very sad day for all of us," Guth said.
Funeral arrangements have not been announced.
- Edited by Jared Duncan
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