In honor of Black History Month, the Multicultural Students Association and IDEA sponsored an event to bring students together to expand awareness on social justice issues.
Students participated in discussions and activities to facilitate better diversity and inclusion in their community and personal life.
There were three different sessions, each of which students participated in various acitivites to bring awareness to these every day issues people face such as socio-economic status, ability status, gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation.
The first set of dicsussions and activites were about “Our Identities. Who am I?” The second session investigated acts of racism and discrimination, and the final session was about learning from others.
Students focused mainly on the respect of others while also learning about different identities and what they mean to everyone.
When I attended as an observer, I got to hear many different thoughts and opinions and left with a lot more knowledge than I came with. I also felt uneasy when certain groups were being stereotyped against.
Professor Carol Evans led these events, with the help of professor Ginett Pineda at the second series. They did a wonderful job organizing and carrying out the activities.
I think it’s extremely important for students to engage in activities like this with fellow classmates. We need to come together to expand awareness on these issues, and it can start right here in our small community.
When I asked the question, “what is the most important thing we hope students learned from these series was?” I got the response,
“I would like students to consider perspectives, and opinions beyond those they’ve already formed or were shaped in early life by family and friends. I want them to realize that people’s experiences while navigating life are different and in many ways are shaped by race and stereotypes.”
Students participated in role play activities such as “Speed Hating” where a scenario would be acted out, and then there was a discussion about how it should’ve been handled correctly.
They also did an activity with “targets” and “non targets” where common insults and stereotypes about certain groups were read aloud. If you were part of a certain group, you were asked to step out front. This gave students a sense of what it feels like to be on both sides.
When asked how it felt to be in the “target area” and “non target area,” students explained that they felt bad looking at the people while these horrible things were being said about them. They also said that sometimes they aren’t sure if they belong in certain categories.
A final activity required students to switch from different stations, defining terms like sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, socio-economic status, and ability status.
Students expressed that it wasn’t as easy as they thought to define these words, and that they hear these words all the time, but don’t really think about what they mean.
When students were asked to discuss the key take away points & important messages, they said:
“Stand up for people, be respectful, there’s no excuse.”
“Don’t be a Karen.”
“Hold each other accountable.”
“Put yourself in others’ shoes”
“Mind your own business and have the courage to say something.”
“The most important thing I learned was that identities make everyone unique and they should be appreciated and honored rather than criticized, whether or not we are proud of our identities.” -Anonymous
If you missed Fayette’s first round of Diversity Circles and are interested in the upcoming series, mark your calendars for April 6th and April 20th. These series will be held in the athletic conference room in the community center.