Scranton Bishop Disses Boykin - Send e-mail to Univ.

from NE Rainbow Alliance:


The campus of Misericordia University is buzzing after Bishop Joseph Martino blasted a guest speaker. The school invited Keith Boykin to campus. Boykin has written on homosexuality.

Martino says the author's beliefs are "disturbingly opposed to catholic moral teaching."

Misericordia has issued a response to Bishop Martino, saying: "Misericordia University is committed deeply to its Catholic mission. Inseparable from that mission is our identity as an academic institution where ideas and positions are explored critically and freely."

A video segment, including a few words from GayNEPA advisory board member Rev. Daniel C. Gunn from St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Wilkes-Barre can be found at http://tinyurl.com/d59rou or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxCxHh41-mE.

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT AND E-MAIL MISERICORDIA UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT DR. MICHAEL MACDOWELL.

Tell him that there are members of the greater NEPA community who appreciate Misericordia's position of educating both its students and the community at large on often controversial topics related to the area of diversity and inclusiveness. You may send an e-mail to misericordia@gaynepa.com and Dr. Macdowell will receive it.

Please feel free to add your own thoughts in a professional manner.

Thank you,

John Dawe
Executive Director


About the Event:
DALLAS , Pa. - The Diversity Institute at Misericordia University will host Keith Boykin, a New York Times best-selling author and founder of the National Black Justice Coalition, for two events to be held on campus on Feb. 17 in conjunction with the organization’s Annual Dinner.

Boykin is a familiar face as a frequent contributor to CNBC and as the editor of The Daily Voice online news site, as well as a law school classmate of President Barack Obama. He will discuss Proposition 8 during a talk to be held at 2 p.m. in the McGowan Room of the Bevevino Library.

Boykin will also host a public forum at 8 p.m. in the Lemmond Theater at Walsh Hall. He will speak about this country’s first black president and what the country can expect from the Obama administration. Both events are free and open to the public and although no tickets are needed, seating is limited, and will be filled on a first come, first served basis.

Boykin has recently been featured on CNBC discussing the qualifications of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and the scandal surrounding Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Educated at Dartmouth and Harvard, Boykin attended law school with then U.S. Senator Barack Obama and served in the White House as a special assistant to President Bill Clinton. He has been actively involved in progressive causes since he worked on his first congressional campaign while still a student in high school. He is a veteran of six political campaigns, including two presidential campaigns, and he was named one of the top instructors when he taught political science at American University in Washington.

In 1997, President Clinton appointed him, along with Coretta Scott King and Rev. Jesse Jackson, to the U.S. presidential trade delegation to Zimbabwe.

He was a star on the 2004 Showtime television series “American Candidate” and has since appeared on numerous national media programs, including “Anderson Cooper 360,” “The O’Reilly Factor,” “The Tyra Banks Show,” “The Montel Williams Show,” “Judge Hatchett” and “The Tom Joyner Morning Show.’’

A founder and first board president of the National Black Justice Coalition, Boykin delivered a landmark speech to 200,000 people at the Millennium March on Washington and he gave a stirring speech about the AIDS epidemic in front of 40,000 people in Chicago’s Soldier Field in July 2006.

Each of Boykin’s three books has been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, including his most recent book, “Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies and Denial in Black America.” Keith won the Lambda Literary Award for his second book, “Respecting the Soul,” while his first book, “One More River to Cross,” is taught in colleges and universities throughout the country.

For more information, please contact the Misericordia University Box Office at (570) 674-6719.


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NEPA Rainbow Alliance, 512 Northampton Street #218, Kingston, PA 18704, 570-606-4410


Bishop Martino rips college for gay-rights speaker