Posted on March 20, 2018

St. Catherine’s University Cancels Conference Because Too Many Speakers Were White

Tom Ciccotta, Breitbart, March 19, 2018

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According to a report from the Star Tribune, details are emerging on why St. Catherine’s University canceled a leadership conference that was scheduled to take place last fall. The university published a statement last week acknowledging that the conference was canceled because the speaker list was not sufficiently diverse.

“We did not feel the list [of speakers] adequately represented the St. Kate’s community or fulfilled the objective of lifting up the voices of all women,” the statement read. {snip}

St. Catherine’s President, Becky Roloff, acknowledged that the decision was made due to the lack of diversity in an email that was sent to the campus community back in December.

“We did not set a goal to secure a diverse panel of presenters,” Roloff wrote. “Because of this, the racial and ethnic diversity of women in leadership positions was not reflected in the conference …” {snip}

Karen Pavlicin-Fragnito, a Minnesota area author and publisher, said that she was disappointed that the event was canceled for diversity reasons.

“I was disappointed that it was canceled because I was excited to be a part of it,” she said. “When I submit something to a conference as a speaker, I have the understanding that they’re going to choose me on what I’m going to present and the value of that to their audience. I’m not expecting that they’re going to choose me on the basis of the color of my skin.”

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John Hinderaker, president of the Minneapolis-based Center of the American Experiment, blasted St. Catherine’s for the decision, specifically pointing out that canceling the event hurts the students that the event was designed to help.

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