Caitlin Corrigan is a graduate student from the Earlham School of Religion in Indiana. She is currently pursuing a Master's in Peace and Social Transformation at the same time as she is getting her Master's degree in Peace & Social Transformation. In this episode, Caitlin shares her story of advocacy and courage in the face of intimidation, and how she was able to fight for her right to choose to not have to show proof of a vaccination to attend her graduation. Caitlin's story is a powerful reminder that courage is possible, and that we can all be brave and courageous in facing fear and intimidation in order to stand up for ourselves and speak out against what we believe is being done to us on our college campuses. Thank you for listening and supporting this podcast and Caitlin and I are so grateful to be able to share her story with all of you. Thank you so much Caitlin, I am so grateful for your courage and bravery in standing up for what is right and fighting for what s right. This episode is a must-listen episode. If you like what you hear, please share it with a friend or become a supporter of this podcast by sharing it on social media! or tweet me and I'll send it to someone who needs to hear it! Thanks again Caitlin! . Tweet Me! or Insta: if you have a story you'd like to help spread the word about this episode and help spread it everywhere else! :) Timestamps: 5:00 - Thank you! 6:15 - What do you think of this episode? 7: 8:20 - How do you feel about it? 9:30 - What would you would like to see it on the podcast? 11:00 12:40 - What are you think I should do next? 15:00 + 16:10 - How would you like it more? 17:10 18:30 19:40 21:30 + 22:15 23:10 + 24:40 + 25:00 & 26:00 // 27:00 / 25 + 30:00 | 27: What s your thoughts on it s going to happen next ? 35:00 <3 36:00 # 33:00 @ & 35 :00
00:00:00.000Today, we're going to talk about advocacy, and we're going to talk about courage, and we're going to talk about intimidation, and what's happening in America today, and particularly on the college campuses.
00:00:13.000My guest today is an extraordinary hero, Caitlin Corrigan.
00:00:51.000I'd have a longstanding religious exemption to vaccination, which was accepted for my undergraduate degree and was accepted for my master's program.
00:01:01.000And so when they required proof of vaccination, I simply reminded my school of my religious exemption.
00:01:09.000And then I received an email reply very quickly that said, oh, we're not accepting that for this round.
00:01:14.000And so I reminded them of the law and how I'm protected under Indiana state law, code 21456, that states that I'm entitled to a religious exemption to vaccination.
00:01:27.000After notifying them of the law, I asked them, I'm wondering, What law allows Earlham College to override Indiana state law and federal law?
00:01:37.000And if there is such a law, it is in violation of my right to religious freedom underneath the United States Constitution.
00:01:43.000And so I didn't receive a reply from that email.
00:01:46.000And so I got in contact with the senator in my district in Indiana, who then referred me to speak to the Attorney General of Indiana and from there I filed complaints with the Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education.
00:02:02.000So then I filed complaints with the Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education and the Indiana Commissioner for Civil Rights and both groups did their own investigations and then a month later I received a letter where they had responded to the Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education saying Caitlin and her family We'll be able to attend graduation without having to show proof of COVID vaccination.
00:02:26.000And on that same day, Earlham College changed their website to where they had said that they're requiring proof of COVID vaccination to just simply recommending it.
00:02:35.000And that website had also said that they were requiring proof of a negative COVID test, and they just simply recommending that for graduation, which was great.
00:02:45.000I was so excited after, you know, a month of contacting different representatives and And trying to figure out what rights I had protected underneath the law, I was able to change the policy.
00:02:56.000So it was very exciting to know that I would be able to attend the graduation of my master's program.
00:03:11.000I was threatened by my fellow classmates, by my professor, my academic advisor.
00:03:17.000As well as the president of Earlham College and Earlham School of Religion, Ann Hauptman.
00:03:22.000I began receiving emails and text messages from my peers in my program and those that I had graduated with from my bachelor's degree that I wasn't really in contact with.
00:03:34.000On platforms with over 1,300 members, I was called an anti-vaccine activist.
00:03:40.000The people were saying that I was dabbling in right-wing propaganda.
00:03:44.000And then the defamation of character just exploded after that.
00:03:48.000People were saying that I was an anti-Semite, that I believed Jews ruled the world, and that I thought COVID was a hoax, which is completely insane accusations.
00:03:57.000I led the interfaith community at Earlham College for two years.
00:04:01.000I was part of the interfaith community.
00:04:04.000For three, I was the president for two.
00:04:06.000I had organized memorial services for Jewish communities that were attacked in both 2018 and 2019.
00:04:14.000And so I, as a deeply religious person, I was really hurt by those accusations and by these just rumors that were being spread.
00:04:24.000Throughout all of Earlham College and to the global community that were just completely false.
00:04:58.000My phone was ringing constantly for about a week and a half, and then it continued after that.
00:05:05.000But it was really rough for a long period of time.
00:05:09.000My professors were included in email threads with hundreds of people saying all these horrific things about me.
00:05:16.000And my professor emailed me telling me that The class that I was supposed to participate in in May was now going to be online due to the fact that I'm unvaccinated.
00:05:28.000So they changed the class to being in person, to being online.
00:05:31.000And then after that, my professor actually told me to not come to graduation.
00:07:44.000I think that I got a really great education in evil.
00:07:50.000When I had emailed the president of Earlham College requesting her to remove the defamatory statements made about me from Earlham College platforms and requesting security for myself and my family at graduation, she had replied in one word, LOL, and then just signed her name.
00:08:12.000And so I... I learned that people can be really evil in the most horrific ways.
00:08:21.000And that can just be when you stand up for your own rights and for your own freedom.
00:08:25.000And I realized how important it is that we do take a stance and we do speak our own truth.
00:08:32.000And, you know, even if you're speaking in front of people that are completely against whatever that truth is, that to speak it loudly and to never...
00:08:43.000To never give up, I was able to, you know, change the policy at my school, and I'm sure that I probably spoke up for other students' rights that were either concerned about the vaccine or didn't want to take the vaccine.
00:08:56.000And so in many ways, I didn't just fight for my rights, but I fought for many other people's rights, whether they were students or family members that didn't want to get the vaccine.
00:09:05.000I think what's most important here is we're seeing such a huge shift in society.
00:09:11.000There's so much hatred Against people that may have different viewpoints than you.
00:09:17.000And so it's really important to recognize the evil, to recognize that hatred and to really change that, to be a voice for others and work in a way that really promotes love.
00:09:32.000I'm working with trying to advocate for many other college students around the country and What I keep saying over and over again is that we have to act in a way that is loving, that is loving in a way that we have freedoms and we need to protect them.
00:09:53.000And it's really horrific what we're seeing in this country right now with the censorship, with just, you know, canceling people out that you don't agree with.
00:11:19.000You know, it's really crazy when you feel like you're a part of a community for many years.
00:11:27.000I was part of the Erlen community for over five years, and to be shunned, to be isolated from an institution, from your professors, from people that you once admired and looked up to, Is perhaps the hardest thing anybody could go through.
00:11:52.000I think for me personally, it has been the most difficult situation that I've ever experienced in my life.
00:12:00.000I've lost countless hours of sleep through this all.
00:12:06.000I've had to take a large amount of time to reflect on myself as a person to Consider where I want to go in this lifetime.
00:12:22.000To consider whether or not I want to continue speaking out about this truth of mine of upholding my freedoms and the freedoms of every American in our country.
00:12:36.000And at this point, I recognize that it is a duty that I have, that I think we all have, is to protect one another and protect our freedoms.
00:12:47.000And so I have chosen to continue doing that, but it has been perhaps the hardest experience of my life.
00:12:55.000It's hard for a lot of college students right now in the time that we're living in.
00:12:59.000You know, people are being harassed and threatened and bullied for declining the vaccine or even just questioning it.
00:13:07.000And that's what's so fundamental is having the right to question what we put into our bodies.
00:13:13.000And I think that that in itself is so important.
00:13:17.000That we have the right to question, you know, question our politicians, question our leaders, question our scientists, and find our own truth in the world and find our own truth in what has happened this past year, over a year of lockdowns, of, you know, deaths.
00:13:36.000And so that's what's so important, is navigating and finding our own truth in this and sticking to that.
00:13:45.000Do you have friends who did stick with you?
00:13:48.000I have one friend that did stick with me, but I didn't really talk about it with a lot of people after this.
00:13:57.000Everyone that was in my master's program, no one reached out to me.
00:14:00.000I received threatening messages from about half of the people I graduated with and the rest stayed silent.
00:14:06.000At Earlham School of Religion, I don't have any friends from my master's program.
00:14:11.000From people at Earlham College, I... I didn't really speak about it with a lot of people.
00:14:18.000I received harassing messages from quite a few people that I graduated with.
00:14:23.000And then a lot of people defriended me or blocked me.
00:14:28.000And so I did speak about it to one of my friends who did stand by me and had asked if, you know, she could in any capacity, if I wanted her in any capacity to speak up on my behalf.
00:14:39.000I said, you know, at that point, everything was kind of over.
00:14:45.000And so I had said that it wasn't really necessary, but I appreciated her to try to advocate for me in some way.
00:14:51.000No one reached out to me and I didn't I didn't want to talk about it to anybody else because I felt like everyone thought that I was a threat in some capacity, in some insane way.
00:15:03.000Yeah, everyone I graduated with, no one stood by my side.
00:15:07.000And I was actually removed from my last online class.
00:15:37.000I'm sure you know this, but virtually everybody that I'm sure you admire and I admire throughout history, You are people who have gone through the same thing that you're going through, isolation, disapproval of your community.
00:15:54.000The willingness to stand up for something you believe in, even when everybody around you is telling you that you're wrong.
00:16:27.000I definitely think that I've made it through the uphill battle.
00:16:30.000I went to a Board of Education meeting last week.
00:16:35.000A few parents had contacted me and asked if I could speak on their children's behalf at the meeting.
00:16:41.000And the Board of Education of Miller Place on Long Island, New York, was discriminating against children who had medical exemptions to wearing masks.
00:16:52.000Many of them were vaccine injured or had autism.
00:16:59.000And so I went to the meeting to speak up for them.
00:17:02.000And after I said my name, I was pushed, accosted.
00:17:07.000Two large male security guards kind of backed me up into a corner.
00:17:12.000They had chased me around the auditorium because they didn't want me to speak.
00:17:16.000And they told me that they were throwing me out of the meeting because I wasn't allowed to speak.
00:17:21.000And so after that I had posted the video of what happened.
00:17:25.000I had it all video recorded and I posted it on social media.
00:17:30.000The next day my boss was emailed and somebody or multiple people, I'm not really sure, had emailed my boss and told I heard that I had disrupted a board of education meeting, that my actions were inappropriate and unacceptable, and were most likely not in line with the mission of the organization that I work for currently.
00:17:56.000And so my boss had called me that day, and she said, I don't know what happened, but it seems like a lot of people hate you right now.
00:18:09.000And she knows that I'm a human rights activist and that's who I've been my entire life.
00:18:16.000When I was seven years old, I donated 11 inches of my hair to Lots of Love for children that either have cancer or other conditions that cause them to lose hair.
00:18:27.000And from the time I was seven, I've always been an activist for other people.
00:18:48.000But people were trying to have me remove my position.
00:18:52.000At an internship that I've had for the past year, and so people are trying to continue to make me stop advocating for other people, and that won't happen.
00:19:03.000You know, at this point, I think the worst thing that you might try to do to somebody is take their integrity away, and that was what was done with all of the defamatory statements online that were made, that were shared with thousands of people that I've never I've seen or talked to before in my life, but I won't stop.
00:19:35.000If you strongly believe in something and you see something that's happening in your community that's wrong, that you have to use your voice.
00:19:45.000You have to You know, learn what rights you have underneath the Constitution and exercise them in any capacity.
00:19:53.000You know, what would be so great is if there were, I mean, right now there's many people that are speaking out, and it's hard with all of the censorship that's happening.
00:20:02.000But, you know, go to Board of Education meetings.
00:20:04.000Go to, you know, businesses that are discriminating based on vaccine status that are requiring you to show proof Of vaccine status.
00:20:13.000And even if you've had the vaccine, if that makes you uncomfortable, if you think to yourself, oh, well, sharing my personal medical information is kind of against American values, then speak out about it and then say, actually, I don't really want to give you that information.
00:20:31.000It's unlawful for you to require that.
00:20:35.000And I'm no longer going to shop at your store anymore.
00:21:12.000You know, I was the only person that was really standing up to my institution and their policy in requiring vaccine status to attend graduation.
00:21:22.000And so, you know, I was able to change that.
00:21:43.000So on Twitter and Instagram, my name is, or my account name is, I am Kate Corrigan, C-A-I-T-C-O-R-R-I-G-A-N. And on Facebook, it's Kate Corrigan, C-A-I-T-C-O-R-R-I-G-A-N. So you can follow me on there.
00:22:04.000I'm currently working with some members from Children's Health Defense in New York to write letters for college students where their colleges are requiring a religious leader to write a letter in support of their religious exemption, which is completely unconstitutional and just goes completely against the idea and concept of religion and personal religious belief.
00:22:29.000Hopefully that letter will be made available to the public soon.
00:22:32.000We have some lawyers that are just reviewing our letter just to make sure that it is all set in stone and can be used.
00:22:42.000So I'm working with some of some other members from Children's Health Defense to organize college students.
00:22:48.000Colleges are really hitting these college students with A lot right now, requiring the vaccine.
00:22:56.000And then if you don't have it, you can't attend sporting events.
00:23:05.000College is not just attending class, even though that's a big thing, but it's being part of a community and attending events and participating in clubs and sports and choirs.
00:23:17.000And so that's not an equal and fair education if If you're not able to fully participate like anybody else.
00:23:24.000I'm working on a letter as well for schools that are segregating people not having the vaccine.
00:23:31.000You know, this is something That is really important to me.
00:23:36.000I definitely feel like I was segregated, isolated, shunned, and I want to make sure that that doesn't happen to any other college student, graduate student, young person.
00:23:47.000No one should be treated the way I was treated, and so I want to make sure that I can do anything in my power to prevent that from happening again.