Diversity Day promotes multicultural awareness
- April 11, 2010
Celebrating the advantages of diversity and multiculturalism while acknowledging work that remains to be done will be the focus of Diversity Day May 21 at the Hayward campus.
“The event is important to students because diversity reflects the community in which we live,” said event coordinator Annette Walker, director of the Domestic Graduate and Evaluations department at Cal State East Bay. “It helps the growth of all students to understand someone else’s culture.”
The Faculty Diversity and Equity Committee will host the first Diversity Day at 8:30 a.m. in the University Union. The event will feature posters made by clubs and organizations that showcase how diversity has brought coordination, collaboration and unification to CSUEB.
Approximately 120 faculty members, staff, and administrators are expected to attend, and students are welcome.
Maintaining an open mind towards diversity on campus can be an uphill battle, Walker said.
“I would like to see diversity being celebrated more,” she said. “We’re getting there, but there’s still a lot of resistance and hopefully this event will bring more awareness.”
Walker emphasized that people of all ages should learn to live with others who are different than themselves.
"Through the years, staff and students at East Bay have had a high willingness for unification to happen,” said Walker. “But clubs and programs should reach out to students more. Each college division should set diversity goals and try to reach them. This event is going to showcase the progress of diversity in each program and organization, and they will highlight exactly what they’re doing.”
The Diversity Center on the Hayward campus will be open during the event, providing music, food and a video presentation. The center’s programming encourages dialogue and debate on issues of diversity and advocates for positive social change through presentation of films, comedians and discussion boards.
“We’re hoping to have as much success as previous events,” Walker said. “If we begin to appreciate each other’s differences, students can stop working independently and be more open to work collaboratively.”