Cumberland Valley parents try to save 30 Rock actor's appearance that school board canceled

Some Cumberland Valley School District residents are launching an all-out effort to save a school assembly in May that the school board canceled Monday night over concerns expressed about the injection of “political activism” into schools.

The board, by 8 votes to 0, voted to cancel the scheduled appearance of Maulik Pancholy, an actor and author who has become a semi-regular speaker at schools, colleges and in the world of company on issues related to diversity and acceptance of people. differences.

This is the kind of content micromanagement we see more and more often as school management has become a battleground in America's political wars.

All members pointed to an informal policy the school board has attempted to follow since the district came under heavy criticism for hosting a Donald Trump campaign rally in 2016, of keeping political activism of all stripes off school facilities .

But a growing number of parents, drawing on several comments during Monday's debate, say they see the council going too far, which has the effect of blocking a positive message because they are either blinded by the homophobia, or afraid of those who are.

Pancholy is gay and came out in 2013.

“Canceling this assembly sends a harmful message to our students that being different is something to be ashamed of or hidden from,” CV parent Trisha Comstock wrote in her online petition, which had garnered 700 signatures Wednesday afternoon.

“We are asking the Cumberland Valley School Board to reverse its decision and allow Mr. Pancholy's presentation on empathy, anti-bullying and his books at Mountain View Middle School.”

Comstock, who began his efforts just hours after Monday night's board action, and other parents made it clear to PennLive in interviews Wednesday that they like Mountain View's school culture, which 'they consider extremely supportive of its students.

At the same time, said Erin Corvaia, a Mountain View mom who also happens to be Pancholy's sister-in-law, this is a college that has hundreds of kids living in the emotional cauldron that is adolescence.

Pancholy's message about finding your voice, trying to fit in, and knowing how to cope if you don't, might be just what many of them need, a- she declared.

“It makes me sick that they tried to manufacture this to be political because it’s not political in any way,” Corvaia said.

“There are kids in this school who need to hear him speak. There is a large Asian-American population. (Pancholy is Indian-American.) There is an active LGTB club at the school… So the kids that are there and need representation, I feel bad for them.

Pancholy, 48, is perhaps best known to some for playing Jonathan, the troubled executive assistant on the old hit NBC sitcom “30 Rock.” Most recently, he appeared in the Hulu comedy “Only Murders in the Building.”

But he has also become an in-demand speaker in recent years, having written two highly praised novels featuring school-aged protagonists.

School board member Bud Shaffner took the initiative to cancel the program this week.

“If you research this individual, he presents himself as an activist,” Shaffner said at one point during Monday’s discussion of his motion. “He takes pride in his lifestyle and I don’t think that should be forced on our students, at any age.”

Here's what Pancholy most clearly cites as his activism on his personal website.

In 2014, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the Presidential Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. He co-founded the anti-bullying campaign #ActToChange, designed to address the unique needs of AAPI youth.

In response to rising discrimination, hatred, and bullying against Asian Americans due to covid-19, Pancholy hosted a series of webinars called #CovidConvos featuring guests such as the basketball player Jeremy Lin, actor Randall Park and US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. .

Pancholy's sexual orientation came up several times during Monday's conversation.

“It’s not discriminatory against his lifestyle. It’s his choice,” board member Kelly Potteiger said before the vote. “But he’s the one who talks about it…

“He (the Mountain View principal) said that’s not the point. But that's what his (Pancholy's) books are about and he'll probably talk about his journey because he talks about anti-bullying and empathy and inclusion, so part of that is his individual journey . And as a self-proclaimed activist, that’s where it gets worrying, I think.”

Potteiger, who has been a member of Moms For Liberty, belongs to a social conservative line of thought that believes schools should mostly not intervene on issues such as sexual orientation and gender identity, and let it is up to parents to talk to their children about it; if they want it at all.

Comstock hopes, however, that the board will reconsider Monday's vote.

Several members who voted yes Monday left some wiggle room in their position, saying they would be more comfortable with Pancholy appearing after school hours, where children and their parents would have the opportunity to attend it.

Board Chairman Greg Rausch said at one point he could not support Shaffner's motion. Another key member, Michael Gossert, was absent Monday evening.

In the meantime, Comstock said, his efforts are aimed at making sure the board knows that's what the Mountain View community wants.

Otherwise, Comstock said, it's the school board that will look like the bullies, because she believes the message sent Monday night is that “if you're anything other than heterosexual, you're not worthy and you're not not seen “.

And that, she said, would be an embarrassment most Cumberland Valley residents don't deserve.

The next full Cumberland Valley board meeting is scheduled for May 6.