A Catholic university in Los Angeles will soon host an event that intends to use yoga as a way to combat “oppression.”
The Yoga Studies Program at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is organizing the Yoga Day for Nov. 2, officially entitled, “What would Green Tārā Do? Confronting Systems of Oppression through Women’s Scholarship and Leadership.”
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“The purpose of this year’s event is to amplify the voices of current leadership and to encourage innovation as we explore the relationship between the Dharmic traditions, Buddhist philosophies, and the pursuit of worldly justice,” an event description reads.
“This event is more than just yoga,” Master of Arts in Yoga Studies Director Christopher Chapple said in an Oct. 21 press release. “It’s about amplifying marginalized voices, fostering dialogue, and exploring how yoga can serve as a vehicle for social change.”
This will be the 13th annual Yoga Day at the university, and will run from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
A schedule for Yoga Day features sessions like “Trouble in YogaLand: Roundtable Discussions around Yoga as a Practice of Social Justice, Earthly Liberation, and Well-being.”
The event’s panelists will include those like LMU’s Kim Harris, who teaches about “ Black liberation and Womanist theologies,” and De Jur Jones, who has written a book series called Best Practices for Yoga in the Criminal Justice System.
In June 2023, LMU President Timothy Law Snyder wrote an op-ed for The Miami Herald in which he criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for being too “close-minded” due to his conservative reforms against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in higher education.
“If anything, Gen Z is indoctrinating us,” Snyder wrote. “College students are the ones pushing institutions to adopt transgender-friendly practices and to create safe spaces.”
“That’s why claims that colleges and universities are indoctrinating the younger generation are false,” he continued. “Before they even fill out college applications, America’s teens are progressive on race.”
Campus Reform contacted Loyola Marymount University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
This article was written by Brendan McDonald and originally published at campusreform.org
