A group of public relations students from Seton Hall University have put together a campaign to stop book bans.
The Seton Hall University (SHU) Bateman Team’s campaign is part of the national Bateman Case Study Competition, the country’s premier public relations contest for college students.
The SHU team is spearheading a strategic campaign for EveryLibrary and the EveryLibrary Institute, a nonprofit committed to supporting libraries and opposing book bans.
The team is composed of team captain Jeimy Simon, Lara Woodin, Sabrina Reves, and Vivienne Caccavele. They are working under the mentorship of faculty advisors Professor Jeanne Salvatore and Sadia Cheema.
Their mission is to engage students and the South Orange community in advocacy efforts to protect intellectual freedom and access to literature.
“Their (libraries) funds are being cut. Books are being banned,” Simon said. “When you are supporting book banning you are blocking people from obtaining knowledge and oppressing freedom of speech.”
To get the word out, the SHU Bateman Team held two events on campus: “Fight for Knowledge” and “Get a Cupcake” were recently held at University Center at Seton Hall. They had a table where they spoke about book banning and gave people cupcakes to get them to sign up for the cause. The also collected petitions that went to EveryLibrary.
They also held “Make Your Own Bookmark” at Walsh Library at Seton Hall.
“Classic books are being banned,” said Simon. “Classic books that people once read in high school are now being banned. Books that deal with LGBTQIA+, social orientation, gender, history…”
Some of the titles she mentioned included, “A Brave New World,” “The Color Purple”, and “To Kill a Mockingbird.” “The list goes on and on,” she said.
The results of the competition will be posted by April 11 and can be seen at: https://www.prsa.org/prssa/
SHU Bateman Team has a history of success, with last year’s campaign for Culturs Magazine making it to the finals. Their theme was Diversity and Inclusion on Campus. To learn more about EveryLibrary, visit: https://www.everylibrary. org/
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