Bryn Mawr College to Host Artist Dropped by Villanova

Workshop by gay performance artist canceled by Villanova University is picked up by Bryn Mawr College

Bryn Mawr College will host a workshop by a gay performance artist whose program was canceled by Villanova University this week, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The announcement came as concern about Villanova's abrupt reversal on hosting Tim Miller's weeklong workshop continued to build, with students planning a forum next week, and several groups and communication and theater professionals issuing letters or statements against the university's decision.

"Bryn Mawr College is a community of scholars with a long history of honoring freedom of expression," the women's college said in a statement. "... Bryn Mawr's commitment to freedom of expression means that speakers who conduct themselves within the college's general guidelines are entitled to express their ideas without hindrance, no matter how unpopular or controversial their ideas might be", reports the Inquirer.

Villanova president the Rev. Peter M. Donohue said earlier this week, according to the Inquirer, that the Catholic university canceled the workshop because of the "explicit, graphic, and sexual content" of Miller's work, not because of his sexual orientation.

Miller's workshop at Bryn Mawr will be held from April 16 to 20 in the Hepburn Teaching Theater at Goodhart Hall, and Villanova students will be welcome, Bryn Mawr officials said. The workshop will be hosted by Bryn Mawr's gender and sexuality program and the theater program.


 

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