Pitt-Greensburg, Diversity Coalition present series on bias, hate crimes, marginalization

The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg and the Westmoreland Diversity Coalition are presenting a virtual speaker series to shed light on the ways different people have been marginalized and subjected to biases and hate crimes.

The third annual Growth Through Knowledge and Understanding series begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday with a conversation about Judaism led by Andrew Goretsky of the Anti-Defamation League.

The league’s mission includes fighting all forms of hate, exposing extremism and delivering anti-bias education.

Prior to joining ADL, Goretsky served 23 years in leadership roles in higher education that focused on diversity and inclusion, multiculturalism and Native American special interests.

Topics expected to be covered during the speaker series include race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, physical and mental disabilities, the previously incarcerated and victims of crime. All sessions are free, with registration, and will include a question-and-answer segment.

Al Thiel, director of the Student Center and Student Involvement at Pitt-Greensburg and a member of the Diversity Coalition board of trustees, said some areas where people are subjected to bias may not be readily recognized by others who aren’t directly affected. He said his goal in selecting speakers for the series was “finding outside experts to talk about these experiences so that victims were not being forced to relive their trauma.”

“There have been too many times in which those who have been the target of biases and hate crimes also then must be their strongest — and maybe only — advocate,” said Carlotta Paige, founder and co-chair of the Westmoreland Diversity Coalition. “It is the responsibility of a society to be educated about and advocate for those who have been marginalized in the past.”

Additional sessions in the series, all beginning at 7 p.m. and lasting for up to an hour, include:

• Sept. 28 – “Hispanic Populations,” presented by Monica Ruiz, executive director of Casa San Jose, a community resource center that offers support for Latinos who have recently arrived in the Pittsburgh area. A native of Cleveland, Ruiz has roots extending from Guatemala and Puerto Rico;

• Oct. 12 – “The Impact of Gender-Based Violence on Women,” presented by Kristin Malone-Boadair of Greensburg’s Blackburn Center. The center provides services to victims of domestic and sexual violence and other types of violence and crime in Westmoreland County, and it presents related education programs;

• Oct. 19 – “Hate What I’ve Done. Support What I Can Become,” presented by Tim Holler, associate professor of criminal justice at Pitt-Greensburg and director of the Community Arts and Reintegration Project. The project brings together crime victims, victim advocates, community groups and youth who are on probation in the county to place murals on buildings;

• Nov. 9 – “Physical and Mental Disabilities,” presented by Sarah Sharpe. She promotes self-advocacy, independence and employment for people with disabilities as an independent living coordinator for Disability Options Network.

To register for any session in the series, visit greensburg.pitt.edu//calendars and search under the “Campus Events Calendar.”