TEACH founder to speak at Barret Lecture

Friday, September 21, 2012

Mary Lou Wallner, founder of To Educate About the Consequences of Homophobia (TEACH), will talk at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 11, in the Cone University Center, McKnight Hall, for the Bob Barret Distinguished Lecture Series on Multiculturalism.

Wallner was featured in the film “For the Bible Tells Me So,” as a mother whose daughter committed suicide. She created TEACH in an effort to generate compassionate conversations about the impact of religion on the LGBT population.

This free, public presentation is being funded by the Chancellor’s Diversity Challenge Fund. The Bob Barret Distinguished Lecture Series on Multiculturalism honors its namesake, who taught in the University’s Counseling Department for 29 years.

On Friday, Oct. 12, the Counseling Department of the College of Education will host a multicultural issues workshop. In the morning, there will be a screening of the movie “For the Bible Tells Me So,” followed by a discussion led by Wallner. This is free for students.

In the afternoon, there will be sessions on “Spirituality:  A Dimension of Multiculturalism;” “A Cross-cultural View of Attachment Issues in Counseling;” “The Many Faces of Bullying: An Educational Guide for Professional School Counselors;” “The Color of Grief: Grief Issues across Cultures;””Privilege and Oppression Dialogue;” and “Multicultural Perspectives on Ethics.”

More information and registration details for Friday’s workshop are on the Web