The morning of the second day of the bi-annual Body Image Conference on Thursday, Oct. 27, a frantic message blasted across social media and through Cabrini emails subjected: WHITNEY WAY THORE POSTPONED.
Suffering from laryngitis and the loss of her voice a few days leading up to the conference, Thore had woken up the morning of the keynote event and her illness had become more serious.
“I spoke with her agent the day before she was supposed to fly into Philadelphia and I knew that she had lost her voice.” Dr. Michelle Filling-Brown said, creator and coordinator of the conference. “He and I decided to decide the morning of her keynote address to see if she was any better, but unfortunately she was worse.”
In the early morning of the day Thore was supposed to speak, Dr. Michelle Filling-Brown and Thore’s agent determined that it was best to not cancel, but to reschedule Thore in the spring semester. “Now we will have a strong gender and body studies event in the spring. So while it was a bit disappointing, it will all work out.” Filling-Brown said.
Thore is the founder of the No Body Shame Campaign which promotes a lifestyle full of love and no shame, she is the author of the book ‘I Do It With the Lights on,’ and has her own show on TLC, My Big Fat Fabulous Life where she showcases her journey of dancing, and being a happier and healthier human being.
Thore gained internet fame with her YouTube video series, “A Fat Girl Dancing,” in 2014, and since then has presented her own TED Talk, was featured on ABC News, NBC’s The Today Show, and the Huffington Post sharing body positives and self-love advocacy.
The Body Image Conference, which was a two-day long conference that held an array of events and hit on all topics pertaining to body image, was a huge success despite the keynote speaker being rescheduled. The conference featured talks and presentations about faith and the body, gender roles and representation in the hit television show Game of Thrones as well as authors of the children’s book ‘I Love My Brown,’ and held a poetry slam, only to name a few.
The conference also welcomed a presenter from as far as Exeter University in England, and others from Susquehanna University, Sarah Lawrence College, Wilson College, and from our very own Cabrini University.
In regards to Thore not being able to attend Cabrini’s Body Image Conference, the University is excited to welcome her in the spring semester.
“Sometimes our bodies just don’t work in the ways we want them to; including losing our voice, so we are sorry Whitney was sick and she extended her gratitude to the Cabrini community for being so understanding.” said Filling-Brown.
