No Name-Calling Week is an annual week of educational activities aimed at ending name-calling of all kinds. Three events have been planned at Washburn University to draw awareness to the problem and learn ways to eliminate name-calling in our communities.

All events are on the Washburn campus and are free and open to the public:

Wednesday, Jan. 25, Noon, Movie: “Searching for Angela Shelton,” Kansas Room, Memorial Union

Wednesday, Jan. 25, 7 p.m., Keynote speaker: Robert Minor, The Fairness Project, will speak on “Bullies, Name-Calling and their Victims,” room 100, Henderson Learning and Resources Center

Thursday, Jan. 26, 7 p.m., Movie: “Cyberbulling,” Kansas Room, Memorial Union

No Name-Calling Week was inspired by a young adult novel entitled “The Misfits” by popular author, James Howe. The book tells the story of four best friends trying to survive the seventh grade in the face of all too frequent taunts based on their weight, height, intelligence, and sexual orientation/gender expression. Motivated by the inequities they see around them, the “Gang of Five” (as they are known) creates a new political party during student council elections and run on a platform aimed at wiping out name-calling of all kinds. The No-Name Party in the end, wins the support of the school’s principal for their cause and their idea for a “No Name-Calling Day” at school.

Motivated by this simple, yet powerful, idea, the No Name-Calling Week Coalition created by GLSEN and Simon & Schuster Children’s publishing, consisting of over 40 national partner organizations, organized an actual No Name-Calling Week in schools across the nation. The project seeks to focus national attention on the problem of name-calling in schools, and to provide students and educators with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate name-calling in their communities.

Diversity Initiatives, multicultural affairs office, OPEN, Social Justice League, and the Sociology and Anthropology Club are sponsoring the events. For more information, contact 785-670-1608 or visit http://nonamecallingweek.orgnonamecallingweek.org.