'Bully' director, writer to speak at UNI panel

The University of Northern Iowa will host a panel discussion on bullying and violence prevention featuring the writer and director of a current documentary on the subject.

UNI's Center for Violence Prevention is supporting the Bully Project's: 1 Million Kids movement by bringing the documentary film "Bully" to campus. Students and educators in Cedar Falls and Waterloo schools and at UNI will get 1,000 tickets for the film, which will air April 27 through May 1 at Marcus College Square Theatres in Cedar Falls. The public can purchase tickets at the theater.

Then UNI will host "Bully" film director, Lee Hirsch, and Cynthia Lowen, producer and writer, for a panel discussion that is free and open to the public, at 4 p.m., Tuesday, May 1, in Sabin Auditorium on the UNI campus. UNI faculty who research and educate about bullying will join Hirsch and Lowen. The panel will discuss bullying and strategies for prevention as well as work on the film.

"Bully" follows the lives of five students who face bullying on a daily basis. For more information about the film, visit thebullyproject.com.

UNI's Center for Violence Prevention houses the Mentors in Violence Prevention Institute at all three public universities in Iowa, and leads the effort to infuse MVP into the teacher education and education leadership curriculum at UNI.