Clearly this seems like a good idea for a panel given the volume of responses that have come in such a short time.  I'm sure that many of us can easily think of similar situations on our own campuses, and I know that I often get asked by students about how the campus media should handle diversity issues.  My campus (Syracuse) had our own incident a couple years ago: a "humor" show on the campus TV network did skits involving jokes about date rape and lynching, and then complained about censorship when the TV network management tried to change their content.  When the student newspaper publicized this, people on campus were understandably upset at the makers of the show and the network for letting them do it.  The chancellor shut down to the network, which turned the dialogue into one of free speech vs. respect for diversity (a false dichotomy in my mind).  Although some productive dialogue occurred on our campus in the wake of this, the incident also produced a fair amount of resentment that lingers.

(Read some of the comments on the great article that Calvin Hall linked to and you will see echoes of that kind of resentment.)

These sorts of incidents occur, unfortunately, at regular intervals, and they ask us to face some very important questions.  I also know that, equally unfortunately, many of my White colleagues are afraid to talk about some of these topics in their classes lest they "say the wrong thing."  So I strongly support a session like this.

As Teaching Chair for the division, I am not sure if I should be the one to organize it (is it a conflict of interest for the teaching chair to organize a panel that I then get to have some say on?).  However, I am happy to take that responsibility if you all want me to.

-Brad