FullertonAbout This Website
Meet Us Here Fullerton is a community effort to improve opportunities for Fullerton students and the wider community.
What is this letter regarding?
Since late August, representatives of choral programs in the Fullerton School District, Fullerton College, and at CSUF have been coordinating to perform, film, and record “Meet Me Here” from Craig Hella Johnson's Considering Matthew Shepard. Though parents of participating students signed media release forms weeks in advance of filming (which took place on Tuesday, 9/26/2023), superintendent Steve McLaughlin refused to sign the media release on behalf of the district. This decision was finalized mere days before the event on the evening of Wednesday, 9/20/2023. After this decision, students came to the understanding that they would not be permitted to participate, even as members of the community not representing the district. Based on information collected, it seems that principal of Fullerton Union High School Laura Rubio discouraged students from participating.
This decision prevented students from not only a significant performance opportunity, but the chance to be a part of remembering Matthew Shepard on the upcoming 25th anniversary of his death. Matthew Shepard was a college student at University of Wyoming and a gay man who was abducted, beat, and died after days of suffering from his injuries. The lack of sensitivity in the district's treatment of this event has been devastating especially to participants who identify with the LGBTQ+ community.
Who is this letter for?
This letter is primarily addressed to superintendent Steve McLaughlin, ED.D. It is secondarily addressed to Laura Rubio, principal of Fullerton Union High School.
Who is this letter from?
This letter is a collaborative effort. You can view all co-signers under Supporting Signatures and add your signature in support by filling out this form.
How would we like to see things change?
We firmly believe that the district easily should have recognized the significance of this opportunity for the students as well as how emotionally impactful the subject matter would be. We believe the appropriate action to take would have been to find a solution that would allow students who wished to participate to take part. This could be by partnering with CSUF to make changes to the contested document, allowing students to participate on their own time, and/or clearly communicating the reasons behind the decision to all participants. The lack of clarity around the heart of the issue and lack of engagement with possible solutions made it impossible to center the needs and desires of the students involved.
In the future, we hope to see a student and community-centered, solution-seeking approach to concerns like this. We also hope to see concerns featuring such delicate topics to be treated with the utmost sensitivity and care.
How can you make a difference?
There a several tangible ways you can help us be heard and seen in the Fullerton community.
Sign and Send the Letter
Download, Print, and Send the Letter: Download (PDF) • Instructions
Share Our Story
The best way for an idea to spread is to tell the story to as many people as possible. We encourage you to share our Open Letter and this website in conversations, in emails, and on social media.
Here are some quick-links to help you share the our story online:
Coming soon: Downloadable Instagram info-graphic
You can request additional sharing resources at Contact@MeetUsHereFullerton.com
If you are or know a member of the press, we are available for questions at Contact@MeetUsHereFullerton.com
Support the Matthew Shepard Foundation
While we are not officially associated with the Matthew Shepard Foundation, our cause is closely connected to theirs. We encourage you to send a donation.
Get Directly Involved
Contributing funds: We will be raising money to cover the costs of website maintenance and community planning around this Open Letter and our dream of hosting a Community Night. Please bear with us as we are looking for a transparent and safe way to do this before allowing contributions.
Coming soon: Link to Contribute Funds
Volunteer to help organize: Help us organize as a community by helping monitor signatures on the website, creating and editing content, event planning and organization, handling communications, and many other tasks to help us reach our goals.
Learn more about the volunteer roles we need filled here.
For volunteer opportunities, questions, suggestions, or any other concerns, please email us at Contact@MeetUsHereFullerton.com