2008 Woodie Awards
Speaker: 'Hate lives in silence'
Jason Braff
Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: Campus News
Diversity Conference keynote speaker Brent Scarpo told his audience he was going to introduce "hate" to them.
"I know exactly where 'hate' comes from and where it lives," Scarpo said. "We need to see 'hate' before we deal with it."
Scarpo stood in silence while the audience patiently waited. Thirty seconds went by; nothing.
"Did you see it?" Scarpo asked the crowd.
Several audience members shook their heads in bewilderment.
"Hate lives in silence," Scarpo said. "It is where it lives, breathes and grows."
Scarpo, a professional actor, director, producer and speaker spoke on Saturday to nearly 75 Quinnipiac students, professors and employees at the third annual Diversity Conference in Burt Kahn Court.
"I guarantee by the end of this conference you will be transformed," Scarpo said. "The world needs it and the country needs it. Change is necessary."
To open his talk Scarpo stepped down from the podium in front of the crowd. He proceeded to read short summaries of acts of hate that have occurred on college campuses throughout the United States, dropping each index card on the ground when he was done reading it. Barely taking a breath in between reading each index card, he read the 21 index cards at a fast pace. Some incidents he mentioned included a gang rape at Ohio State, a racist letter to an African American leader at Penn State, swastikas drawn on an African American student organization house at University of California at Berkeley, and the recent shootings at Northern Illinois University on Feb.14.
"If you don't think it can happen here, think again," Scarpo told the students. "Does hate exist on college campuses in the United States? Yes it does."
Scarpo has been traveling the United States for more than 10 years speaking at universities and high schools to spread his message. Midway through his address Scarpo showed his 1999 documentary "Journey to a Hate Free Millennium," which featured the tragic stories of Matthew Sheppard (killed for being gay), James Byrd Jr. (brutally murdered by white supremacists) and the Columbine High School shootings.
"I know exactly where 'hate' comes from and where it lives," Scarpo said. "We need to see 'hate' before we deal with it."
Scarpo stood in silence while the audience patiently waited. Thirty seconds went by; nothing.
"Did you see it?" Scarpo asked the crowd.
Several audience members shook their heads in bewilderment.
"Hate lives in silence," Scarpo said. "It is where it lives, breathes and grows."
Scarpo, a professional actor, director, producer and speaker spoke on Saturday to nearly 75 Quinnipiac students, professors and employees at the third annual Diversity Conference in Burt Kahn Court.
"I guarantee by the end of this conference you will be transformed," Scarpo said. "The world needs it and the country needs it. Change is necessary."
To open his talk Scarpo stepped down from the podium in front of the crowd. He proceeded to read short summaries of acts of hate that have occurred on college campuses throughout the United States, dropping each index card on the ground when he was done reading it. Barely taking a breath in between reading each index card, he read the 21 index cards at a fast pace. Some incidents he mentioned included a gang rape at Ohio State, a racist letter to an African American leader at Penn State, swastikas drawn on an African American student organization house at University of California at Berkeley, and the recent shootings at Northern Illinois University on Feb.14.
"If you don't think it can happen here, think again," Scarpo told the students. "Does hate exist on college campuses in the United States? Yes it does."
Scarpo has been traveling the United States for more than 10 years speaking at universities and high schools to spread his message. Midway through his address Scarpo showed his 1999 documentary "Journey to a Hate Free Millennium," which featured the tragic stories of Matthew Sheppard (killed for being gay), James Byrd Jr. (brutally murdered by white supremacists) and the Columbine High School shootings.
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