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A free speech open mic event titled “Who is Easton?” will take place 1 p.m. Saturday, May 1 in Easton’s Center Square. All members of the Lafayette and Easton communities are invited to attend.

The event is being sponsored by students in the Values and Science/Technology (VAST) course Human Security as a Global Public Good, the Governor Wolf Athenaeum Project supported by Lafayette’s Economic Empowerment and Global Learning Project (EEGLP), and the Neighbors of Easton blog.

According to Gladstone Fluney Hutchinson, associate professor of economics, this exercise in self expression will give members of the community an open forum to voice and hear opinions. Participation can take any form, including speech, song, or poetry, and all topics are allowed. The event will take place following the Easton Farmers’ Market’s opening for the season, and pizza will be provided.

“We are exploring free-exchange democratic engagement as community renewal and a public good,” says Hutchinson, who is director of EEGLP and teaches the VAST course.

Easton resident Noel Jones wrote about the event in a Neighbors of Easton blog entry. “It seems a fitting event for our circle downtown, where the Declaration of Independence was once read aloud all those years ago. Our Centre Square is a historic place of American expression, and now is as good a time as any to reclaim that history and make ourselves heard. Besides, what better way to see who really makes up our city?”