CWU Faculty and Students to Read From Censored Books at First Amendment Festival

March 5, 2007

Ellensburg, Wash. - Readings from banned and censored books will be presented at Central Washington University as part of the university's First Amendment Festival. "Censored, Banned and Challenged Out Loud!" will take place Monday, March 5, at 7 p.m., in the Student Union and Recreation Center Theatre. Doors open for the free, public event 6:30 p.m.

Cynthia Mitchell, CWU journalism professor, who's steering the yearlong festival, says the readings will come from such classic books as "The Catcher in the Rye," by American author J. D. Salinger, and Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th century work "The Canterbury Tales."

The CWU faculty members who will present the readings are Lene Pedersen, anthropology; Brian Goeltzenleuchter, art; James Johnson, biological sciences; Ian Quitadamo, biological sciences and science education; Keith Champagne, communication and associate vice president for student affairs; Michael Ogden, communication and film and video studies; Robert Kuhlken, geography and land studies; Laila Abdalla, Bobby Cummings, Gerald Stacy and Katharine Whitcomb, English; Dale Width, mathematics; Chenyang Li, philosophy; along with Marji Morgan, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities (CAH); and Gerard Hogan, Brooks Library coordinator of reference services.

The event is sponsored by the CAH, the departments of English, education and philosophy departments and the Brooks Library.

For more information, or for persons of disability to arrange for reasonable accommodation, call 509-607-9136, or (for the hearing impaired) TDD 509-963-2143.

For additional information about the festival visit www.cwu.edu/~firstamendment/.