CMU students, community members share their thoughts on banned books
Community members gather in the Chippewa River District Library in Mount Pleasant on Feb. 25, 2025. They talk to each other about their views on banned books.
Jolie Chene, a senior at Central Michigan University and the Bateman Team Competition Coordinator with the CMU Public Relations Student Society, said that she doesn't agree with the book bans because the youth should have access to serious situations in books.
"There's a lot of educational value that should be read by the world and that children from future generations should always be able to read these books," Chene said. "And it's something that we need to protest against."
This discussion was a part of a Banned Book Tasting event that CMU's PRSSA hosted at the Chippewa River District Library on Feb. 25.
The event was to educate the community in Mount Pleasant about banned books and to chat about their views on it. People were able to learn about the books with a synopsis and why they were banned or restricted in some schools across the United States, some included:
- "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
- "1984" by George Orwell
- "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
- "Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
- "Harry Potter" by J.K. Rowling, and more.
Chene said that events like this bring awareness and community together.
"A lot of times it feels like there is a difference between Mount Pleasant and Central Michigan," Chene said. "Having events like this where there are people from Mount Pleasant at an event hosted by Central Michigan students, creates a better community."
Grace Foley, a freshman at CMU, attended the event and talked about her thoughts on the book bans with others in the community.
She said that kids are exposed enough to serious situations in life with the internet at their fingertips.
"Book bans are unneeded because of the things kids are exposed to on social media already, it's not necessary to ban books when you can find anything on social media," she said.
The event opened up Foley's eyes to different views about the ban, she said.
"It was fun and interesting because I was getting to see other people's perspectives on the banned books and why they think it's wrong."
CMU PRSSA hosted the event as a part of The Bateman Case Study Competition. It is PRSSA’s premier national case study competition for public relations students and allows students to apply to classroom education and internship experiences to create a public relations campaign.
Each year, students are given a client. This year, CMU PRSSA chose EveryLibrary as their client. According to their website, EveryLibrary helps ensure funding and access to college and public school libraries for generations to come. They also support local libraries against book banning, threats to closure and political interference.
