Citizenship Series: The Cost of "Just Words"

📍 Lauder College House
📅 Wednesday, February 25
⏰ 7:00 PM
🍽 Refreshments provided

As part of Lauder’s Citizenship Programming Series, this dialogue-based event invites residents to reflect on the challenges facing LGBTQ+ individuals in the current national climate. In an era where digital anonymity can amplify demeaning, exclusionary, or “othering” rhetoric, it is increasingly important to think critically about how messages circulate—and how they affect real people and campus climate.

We will be joined by Eric from the LGBT Center and Mitchell Holston, House Director of Lauder College House, who will contribute perspectives on both gender/sexuality and racial/ethnic dimensions of contemporary discourse. Together, we will explore:

How anti-LGBTQ+ messaging shapes lived experiences

The intersection of race, ethnicity, and sexuality in public rhetoric

The role of digital environments in normalizing or challenging harmful narratives

What it means to act as informed, supportive members of the Penn community

The format will be conversational, with chairs arranged in a circle to encourage participation and thoughtful exchange. This is not a lecture—it is a space for dialogue, reflection, and practical engagement.

All are welcome. Come ready to listen, reflect, and contribute.