By Lauren Toole

“If I am privileged, am I obligated to help others?” That question turned this year’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Dialogue on its head and inspired the “Privilege” theme of Speak Out Week.

“I could tell that the conversation wanted to continue,” Faith Servant ’13, head of the Discrimination Advisors (DAs), said. “We thought that Speak Out Week would be a good way to do that.”

The DAs plan Speak Out Week every year to raise awareness on campus about a particular issue or topic. Last year’s theme was “Human Trafficking,” and the DAs worked with the Kenyon chapter of Not for Sale, an organization that works to fight human trafficking and modern-day slavery, to highlight the prevalence of human trafficking.

The DAs sought this year to explore the idea of privilege and how it ties into economics, class, race and age in a global perspective ﾗ topics centered around the question, “How can we use our privilege to help others instead of to dismiss others?”

This year’s events include SPEAK: Voices from the Hill, a student-written and performed set of monologues about women’s experiences at Kenyon, a dinner and discussion with Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science Nancy Powers, and concluded with a student-led panel on privilege Tuesday afternoon.

“There all different types of privilege,” Servant said. “We wanted to give other students a platform to talk about their privilege.”

DAs do not have any larger events planned for the semester, but they will be adding Discrimination Advisor Office Hours in Peirce Lounge every Monday and Thursday. Monday hours will be 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Thursday’s hours will be from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.

“Anyone who wants to come in and talk to us about anything, we’re there,” Servant said.

[starbox id=”lauren_toole”]