collegenews Monica Lewinsky told members of the College community that she is “taking back my narrative.” IN T H E S P O T L IG H T
“
We need a cultural revolution, a shift, a return to compassion and empathy.
”
— Monica Lewinsky
Lewinsky calls for shi in social media culture FORMER WHITE HOUSE INTERN Monica Lewinsky advocates for a cultural revolution to counter what she refers to as an online “culture of humiliation.” “With every click we make a choice,” Lewinsky told a crowd of 800 students, faculty and staff, assembled Feb. 4 in the Roanoke College Cregger Center. Too often “we lose the ability to comment with humanity. We’re pushed to judge, enabled by technology.” “We need a cultural revolution, a shift, a return to compassion and empathy,” she said. “Shame cannot survive empathy.” If she has a platform, it is this: “Click with compassion.” In 1998, President Bill Clinton admitted to having had what he called an “inappropriate relationship” with Lewinsky while she worked at the White House in 1995-1996. The acknowledgment led to Clinton’s impeachment by the House of Representatives (and acquittal by the Senate) and a scandal that continues to serve as a reference point for American politics. Overnight, “I was in the eye of a media maelstrom,” Lewinsky said. Twenty-four years later, with impeachment of President Donald Trump, Lewinsky said she is “now back in the news cycle.” She largely kept discussion of the current political climate out of her presentation at the College, noting that “’impeachment,’ has become a trigger word for me.” But she is moving forward, reclaiming her life and “taking
back my narrative.” She is co-producing a documentary called “15 Minutes of Shame” for HBO Max, and is producing FX’s “Impeachment: American Crime Story.” In 2015, she broke her public silence with a TED Talk, “The Price of Shame.” “I was publicly silent for a decade; now no one can get me to shut up,” she quipped during her presentation at Roanoke. Lewinsky’s visit to Roanoke College was sponsored by the Turk Pre-Law program, as part of the College’s examination of civil discourse and democracy.
Lewinsky said after being publicly silent for a decade, “now no one can get me to shut up.”
ROANOKE.EDU
5
