CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — Facing national pressure and a rebuke from their own top administrators, Cumberland Valley School Board members have agreed to hold a special meeting to consider reversing their decision to cancel an assembly featuring Maulik Pancholy, abc27 has learned.

The special meeting will be Wednesday, April 24, at 5 p.m. at what’s known as CV9 Academy, the ninth-grade school formerly known as Good Hope Middle School, next to Hampden Elementary School.

CV9 is located at 451 Skyport Road in Hampden Township. The agenda isn’t yet public, but a source familiar with the board’s thinking confirms members have agreed to hold the meeting.

Reached Friday evening, a parent who helped lead the backlash against the decision to cancel the speech expressed cautious optimism.

“I’m glad to hear they’ve scheduled a special meeting,” said Trisha Comstock. “I look forward to the community sharing their thoughts on the decision last week. In order to rectify the situation, my hope is that they have a re-vote and re-enstate the assembly, at the very least.”

Comstock — who, like others who protested, she said she believed school board member comments Monday night indicated they canceled the speech only because Pancholy is gay — said she never expected the controversy to generate national attention.

“I was naïve in thinking this would stay local,” she said. “I think Mr. Pancholy’s name and the blatant homophobia catapulted it to a national story, which we’re grateful for.”

On Thursday, as national media covered the story, everyone from Pancholy himself to the district superintendent and other top administrators expressed varying degrees of disappointment and outrage over the 8-0 decision Monday night to cancel the assembly, which Mountain View Middle School administrators had scheduled as part of an ongoing annual series of speeches by authors.

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Nittany Insiders

Pancholy, who is Asian-American and gay, speaks frequently against bullying and is the author of two fiction books — and is in the process of publishing a third — based loosely on his childhood experiences of being bullied. He played Jonathan on the NBC show “30 Rock,” which aired from 2006 through 2013.

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