News

Founder of PostSecret gives presentation at XU

by Andrew Koch

Xavier will host Frank Warren, bestselling author and founder of PostSecret, on Oct. 29. Warren will be giving his presentation which features secrets anonymously submitted via
postcard by over half a million people. On the project’s website, Warren describes PostSecret as an “ongoing community art project” that is made up of secrets anonymously submitted via postcards. The project’s mission is to allow people an outlet for confessions that might otherwise have been
ridiculed. “The purpose [of Warren’s presentation] is to engage the Xavier community in the discussion around self-expression, depression and anxiety,” Kevin Tighe said, one of the event chairs in the Student Activity Council (SAC),“PostSecret allows for anonymous and honest self-expression, which is otherwise difficult to come by in our judgmental and critical society.” The lecture is sponsored by SAC with help from the Office of Residence Life, Active Minds and Artists for Others.
In addition to hearing the presentation, visitors at Warren’s lecture will be able to purchase books about Warren’s experiences with PostSecret and the event will feature a book signing. The presentation will conclude with an opportunity for
students to broadcast their own secrets to the assembly.
The event is at 7 p.m. on Oct. 29 in Cintas Center’s Duff Banquet Center. It will be open to Xavier students and faculty as well as Cincinnati residents, although visitors will need a ticket to be admitted. A limited number of free tickets were distributed to students on a first-come, first-serve basis last Monday outside the entrance of Gallagher Student Center.
Tickets are available to the general public, community
guests and alumni during the day on Oct. 24 at the Cintas
Center Ticket Office. Students are encouraged to review the
event’s Facebook page to determine if and when the event
has sold out. “I think [PostSecret] helps [people] in relieving stress, alleviating anxiety and simply knowing that [they’re] being heard,” Tighe said. “I am beyond excited for Warren to
come.”