The Moosnick lecture entitled The Violence We Face: Women, Faith, and the #MeToo Movement was a powerfully moderated open dialogue among three leaders from different religious communities including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Senior Shawna Morton, currently specializing in religion, introduced the panel of leaders: Rabbi Mira Wasserman, Ph.D. Director of the Center for Jewish Ethics and Assistant Professor of Rabbinic Literature at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Dr. Nadia Rasheed, and Dr. Emily Askew.

The lecture began with each leader describing their connection to the #MeToo movement in their respective lives and religious communities. Rabbi Wasserman, who has been speaking and teaching about Jewish ethics intertwined with the #MeToo movement for the past two years, provided the audience with an anecdotal background which established her foundation with the movement: in 2006, Tarana Burke, a community organizer and counselor working with African American youth, was approached by a young woman with whom she worked. This young woman eventually revealed to Burke that she had experienced sexual assault. During this encounter, Burke later explained, she felt an overwhelming urge to say “me too” in the moment because she too was a victim of sexual assault, yet she refrained.

This story set the tone for the lecture which fixated on one overarching theme with regards to sexual assault and harassment within religious communities and the #MeToo movement (the # breaking later in 2017). The theme being the lack of attention and dialogue surrounding the reality that women of socially marginalized (race, gender, socioeconomic status, religious affiliation) communities face within their respective communities.

Rabbi Wasserman’s teachings have elucidated the fact that Jewish and ethical teaching have historically been employed to diminish the validity of women’s experiences and she now spends time trying to shift that narrative.

For Dr. Rasheed, a Muslim physician from New York who attended medical school in Iraq, her work embodies the difficult task of rewriting and reinterpreting a misrepresented and mistranslated text: the Quran. She advocates for the sayings of the prophet to be analyzed in a more objective fashion in order to deter fueling and providing ammunition for Islamophobia.

The over-representation of extremism we witness today with relation to Islam is not what the Quran teaches nor what the majority of Muslims support. Yet, for the skeptic, this fuels anxieties particularly in relation to Muslim women seemingly being subordinate to men.

Dr. Askew’s brilliant assessment of the connection between religious communities and sexual assault was that scripture and religious leaders often play a large role. Dr. Askew teaches a Theology and Domestic Violence course and is heavily involved with a Domestic Violence Clinic for women. This was one story she shared: Deborah is Black and White, not Latinx; she is rich and she is poor with kids and without kids. One day Deborah walks into the clinic to explain that her husband was arrested for choking her. When she went to her pastor, he told her that if only she had been submissive and acted in her place he wouldn’t have to lash out in violence and that she should go pray. Her pastor also told her that she would need to welcome him back. “Bad theology will get you killed,” said Dr. Askew.

The panelists then fixated on victim blaming and perpetrator shaming. It is clear that a cultural shift needs to manifest in the form of allowing vulnerability: both for survivors and perpetrators. Presently, survivors are seldom validated in their experience while perpetrators are publicly shamed. At the same time, perpetrators have the option of public emancipation that often sounds something like this: “If I did something wrong, I’m sorry” while there is no recognized system in place to remedy the social, psychological, and spiritual ramifications for survivors.

All agreed that there are very real power dynamics in regards to religious leaders who are often charged with responding to the lived experiences of their members. In general, religious communities tend to put leaders on pedestals. So, when they deviate from how they are supposed to act, the not so secret incident is maintained within the community to the detriment of the survivor and the destruction of that community as well.

Another subject that was covered was emancipatory passages in religious scripture that help survivors cope with their experience. None of the women on the panel denied that the Torah, the Quran, or the Bible have not perpetuated the subjugation, subordination, and submission of women. To that end, they declared that often those passages that are in nature more emancipatory are seldom regarded and they need to be highlighted as a means to reconcile with sexual misconduct.

Final thoughts encompassed the concept of forgiveness, particularly self-forgiveness for victims that report and those that do not. All advocated for the value of religious institutions who can oppose violence and confront unrestrained power in addition to facilitating open dialogue about threats to members in the community concerning sexual abuses.

Walking away from this lecture, the room felt alleviated in the sense that this discourse is not being brushed under the rug and that there are leaders out there, and particularly female leaders in positions dominated by males, that are advocating for those without a voice.

This story is in collaboration with Managing Editor Abby Stone. Despite being denied media access, along with the Kentucky Kernel, to cover President Donald Trump’s rally at Rupp Arena, our editors still attended downtown Lexington for outside media coverage. Rambler staffers received an email from Trump’s Press Office rejecting media credentials for both the Editor-in-Chief and the Managing Editor. It gave no reason why. 

On Nov. 4, 2019, President Donald Trump visited Lexington ahead of Kentucky’s gubernatorial election. Along with a speech at Rupp Arena, the focus of the president’s visit was to urge voters to reelect Gov. Matt Bevin, who ran against Attorney General Andy Beshear, and to hold a rally for his 2020 reelection campaign. U.S. Sens. Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell and Attorney General candidate Daniel Cameron all took the stage to speak with President Trump and Gov. Matt Bevin.

Similar to previous visits of President Trump throughout the nation, strong division and controversy were brought to downtown Lexington. The entrance of Rupp Arena was the congregating space for Trump supporters with multiple stands and carts of “Trump 2020” and “Make America Great Again” merchandise. The front of Triangle Park was the base for anti-Trump protestors. In addition to Triangle Park, there was also the 20-foot “Baby Trump” balloon stationed in the Courthouse Plaza.

According to the Lexington Herald Leader, the Concerned Citizens for the CenterLEX and KFK Kentucky raised $5,000 to bring the famous balloon to Lexington. The balloon first appeared in London during the president’s visit to the United Kingdom in June of this year and has since made appearances in New Jersey, California, and Illinois among others. Although groups of protestors and pro-Trump supporters crossed paths, there was no violence reported. In the video captured below, you can see live-action footage of the anti-Trump protestors from Triangle Park.

The Rambler staff would also like to thank the Lexington Police Department for their dedication to keeping this city safe. 

Transy’s campus has experienced the latest trend to sweep Lexington transportation in the last week: Lime electric scooters. The use of these scooters on campus prompted the university to release a statement via TNotes on Thursday, Oct. 24 regarding the rules for using the scooters. A second statement appearing in TNotes on Friday, Oct. 25 said, “…we are particularly concerned about our students’ safety, as well as the damage to campus that we are experiencing, including on sidewalks, to landscape and inside buildings.” The full statement that Transy released regarding what students need to know about scooters on campus can be found here. The city of Lexington also has a page for its safety rules.

Chief Gregg Muravchick, the Director of Public Safety, spoke with us regarding how DPS plans to enforce the safety regulations. “The city has laid out their policies and procedures for the use and enforcement of electric scooters in this county. DPS will follow the guidelines set out by the Fayette County Government and enforce this ordinance accordingly” said Muravchick.

Adam Bolin is the Kentucky Operations Manager for Lime. We asked him what he hopes Lime will bring to Transy’s small campus. “We believe that students will greatly benefit from fast, affordable, and convenient options of getting around campus while reducing the university’s carbon footprint regardless of the size of the campus” said Bolin. “Lime aims to provide a sustainable solution to the first and last mile transportation problem by helping people move around their cities in an affordable and convenient way while eliminating their carbon footprint. Lime is here to empower future generations to change their behavior to save this planet together.”

Lime are not the only ones with the goal of bringing an alternative form of transportation to the masses. If you’re looking to get your own street legal electric scooter, rather than borrow or rent one, there are many manufacturers offering their own products that you can find reviews for online.

In regards to safety, Bolin said, “Please do not park scooters blocking building entrances, ADA ramps and access points, and be sure to leave space on walkways for pedestrians to safely and easily pass. Preferably park near an existing bike rack and never ride a scooter into a building.”

Interim President John Williams offered insight into his experience with the electric scooters from his time in Indianapolis. “When I was dean of the IU dental school, our oral surgery program staffed Emergency Department call at two downtown hospitals (Methodist and Eskanazi) and reported an increase in facial trauma (e.g. facial lacerations, fractured facial bones-jaw and orbit (eye socket).” He noted that additional statistics regarding injuries related to both Bird and Lime electric scooter use in Indianapolis can be found on this blog for an injury law office.

President Williams added, “The scooters were only a nuisance when riders would just park them on the sidewalk or bike trails within the city. They were very popular and convenient ways to attend sporting events and have fun around town. Be wise and wear a helmet!”

Lime’s website offers additional information on how to safely operate their scooters along with cost and other useful information, including locations. According to the site’s access page, the Lime-S electric scooters cost $0.50 to unlock and $0.07 per minute. You can unlock these scooters through the Lime app or through a PayNearMe store, which you can find locations for here. According to Bolin, Lime is currently running the promo code LEXDOIT for two free scooter unlocks.

Whilst many other people around the world enjoy using electric scooters for adults as a method of transport, only time will tell if the Transy community finds Lime scooters on campus an easier way to get around the downtown area. A lot of people see the scooters as easy and straightforward to use, as well as time-saving. However, we’ll have to wait and see if this community feels the same way or if they find that they cause more traffic problems than they solve.