By Jeannette Sevilla
Reporter

Many voices were heard while others felt silenced at the CSU Bakersfield’s sociology club event on discrimination.
The event, called “I Am… A Symposium of Discrimination” was held in the Student Union’s Multi-Purpose Room on Feb. 11.
The Sociology Club paired up with M.E.Ch.A., The Newman Catholic Club, Psychology Club, Muslim Student Association, Multi Cultural Club, African American Student Union, Associated Students Inc., Student Programming, Japan and Beyond, and the Veterans Outreach, to deliver an encouraging event.
“The event went very well. We had many brave students come forward to talk about some personal discrimination that they face almost regularly. All the clubs that chose to participate collaborated, which made the event run smoothly,” said Sociology Club president, Josefina Villarreal.
“The topic was very touchy but the event itself did go well without any complications,”
But the president of CSUB’s Club GEN, Josh Lofy, had a different opinion about the event. Lofy said his voice was being silenced.
“I asked a question at the event about, ‘What is a pro-life poster doing in an anti-discrimination video when there is a woman of color right now in the state of Indiana facing up to 70 years of prison for having a miscarriage at home?’ and are these the kind of policies that we want to support or that they support?”
Lofy expanded on who he wanted answers from.
“I was targeting specifically the women on the panel and to the person who made the video.”
After voicing his opinion, Lofy tells how his question was very direct, but there was a huge gap of silence.
“My question did not get answered. Instead it was side barred and that was really where I was like, you can not do that. If you’re going to have these people on a panel representing certain views and they are up there and we have a Q&A section, they can answer my question.”
Lofy then explains how many clubs and people were upset with him for stating his opinions so publicly and how members from other clubs felt his comments were “slandering” when all he was doing was asking a question and elaborating on his belief.
“ASI was really mad at me,” Lofy said. “I would love to see an event like this happen again, but I would love to see an actual event talking about discrimination.”
ASI Executive Vice President Mike Kwon responded to Lofy’s claims.
“After I had discussed with a member of Club GEN about concerns on the symposium, a meeting with all clubs that were involved with putting the symposium together was called to discuss the concerns and how it could be resolved for the future,” he said.
Kwon followed up with ASI’s role in this situation.
“As student government, we support all clubs andorganization’s endeavors. If there were any problems or concerns, we would try and mediate a solution so that all parties are content with the outcome.”
Kwon also said that, “With this situation, we plan on following up with clubs that hosted the symposium, clubs that were in concern with the symposium, and students that had concerns or appreciation for the symposium so that we may get a mixture of feedback so that events like these in the future are successful”.
Villarreal added, “We are looking forward to working with Club GEN to create similar events in the future.”