Each fall, the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity coordinates Diversity Education Week (DEW) with a roster of two dozen or more programs hosted by NC State organizations. The week serves to educate students, faculty and staff about current issues, efforts and achievements relating to diversity. A major event of DEW is the annual fall campus Diversity Dialogue, which this year featured internet activist Franchesca Ramsey.
Diversity Education Week: Revisited
In the spring, the University Activities Board, a student-led organization, presents “Diversity Education Week: Revisited” to promote student engagement with diversity topics. This year’s Diversity Education Week: Revisited begins today and continues through Friday with a full calendar of events.
Diversity Activities Board Chair Shelsey Hall, a junior from Raleigh double majoring in philosophy and political science with a concentration in law and justice, states, “The theme for this year’s Diversity Education Week: Revisited is ‘This Is How We DEW It: Interrupting Systems of Oppression.’ We intend to provide participants with tools and knowledge to interrupt and disrupt various systems and levels of oppression.”
Hall, along with Vice Chair Julia Sartori, a junior from Charlotte majoring in nutrition science, worked to include interactive programs that create a space for students and give them useful takeaways.
The Objectives
“We invited organizations and departments that would host workshops and programs that create discussion around various facets of identity, diversity and inclusion and how those characteristics contribute to oppression (whether internalized, interpersonal, cultural or institutional). Similar to past years, the purpose of Diversity Education Week: Revisited is to utilize the strengths of our diverse student body to promote awareness and understanding of diverse cultures and to foster intercultural understanding. Additionally, we hope that the inclusive nature of all of the programs will make the entire week more inviting,” says Hall.
“We hope that students leave questioning their current worldviews and become more open to understanding other perspectives and identities,” she adds. She says she personally looks forward to seeing Yesenia Polanco and Darius Simpson speak.
The Events
Diversity of Thought
Lobby, Talley Student Union, 10:00 a.m.
Give your viewpoint on specific topics of worldview and diversity at a table hosted by the Diversity Activities Board of the University Activities Board (UAB). Pick up DEW-R giveaways and “incentive card.”
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Talley Student Union, Student Involvement Suite, 2:00 p.m.
The Diversity Education for Our Peers to Thrive (DEPTH) peer educators will host a presentation and panel on blindness and the invisibility that often comes with it.
Melanin Muse: For My People
Caldwell Lounge, 7:00 p.m.
Join the Black Students Board (BSB) of the University Activities Board (UAB) and Poetry Cafe for an interactive showcase and night of blending backgrounds, cultures and identities using music and poetry. All are welcome to attend and participate.
Black Panther Brown Bag Discussion
Poe Hall, Room 120, 12:15 p.m.
Join the Multicultural Young Educators Network for a brown bag lunch discussion about the themes in Black Panther (2018), focusing especially on the importance of black representation in media, the purported divisiveness of the film and the political messages in the film.
Moving Forward, Forward Thinking
Talley Student Union, Student Involvement Suite, 2:00 p.m.
The Diversity Education for Our Peers to Thrive (DEPTH) peer educators will lead a presentation that will explore the concepts of privilege, assess the power and advantages privilege grants each of us and discuss the nuances of privilege.
We Came, We Saw, We are Conquering…
Talley Student Union, Room 3285, 4:30 p.m.
The Diversity Activities Board (DAB) welcomes Latinx immigration lawyer, Yesenia Polanco, to discuss her experience and personal narrative of being a Latinx woman in today’s political climate, as well as how the climate has affected immigration law. Following the discussion, Polanco will accept questions from audience members.
It’s Not in Your Head: A Conversation on Mental Health in the Black Community
Talley Student Union, Student Involvement Suite, 7:00 p.m.
The Student Mentor Association and the Counseling Center will host a panel discussion about mental health in NC State’s Black community. The panel will include members of the NC State community representing various facets of campus life as well as a representative from the Counseling Center who will speak about the resources on campus for students dealing with issues pertaining to mental health.
Women in Leadership Panel and Networking
Talley Student Union, Mountains Ballroom, 6:00 p.m.
The Women’s Center and the Career Development Center will host a panel discussion and networking night, bringing together NC State students and professional women from around the Triangle.
I Am: Film Screening and Discussion
Talley Student Union, Room 3285, 6:00 p.m.
Join the GLBT Center as they screen the film I Am, which chronicles the journey of an Indian lesbian filmmaker who returns to home to Delhi to confront the loss of her mother, to whom she never came out. Witness her journey toward understanding as she speaks with families of gay and lesbian Indians following a movement to decriminalize GLBT identity in India. Discussion will follow.
MEN! (Menstrual Education Needed!)
Talley Student Union, Room 3285, 6:00 p.m.
The North Carolina Public Interest Research Group and Delta Upsilon fraternity will facilitate a discussion with students and a diverse group of panelists to foster conversation, inform and mobilize the student body around women’s menstrual health issues, particularly those of women in need.
SAAC Grammar Bee
Park Shops, Room 215, 6:00 p.m.
The Society of African American Culture (SAAC) will host a grammar bee to challenge participants to correctly identify African American Vernacular English (AAVE) while also teaching them about the complexities and origins of AAVE. The program will also help audience members understand why AAVE is used by school systems in America and its importance in the African American community.
Keynote Presentation: Darius Simpson
Talley Student Union, Coastal Ballroom, 4:00 p.m. (workshop), 6:00 p.m. (lecture)
The Center for Student Leadership, Ethics and Public Service presents writer, spoken word artist, slam poetry champion and outspoken social justice activist Darius Simpson, who uses poetry as a tool of healing, informing and challenging his listeners for a workshop and lecture.
Eliminating the Weird in Intercultural Interactions
Witherspoon Student Center, Room 201, 4:00 p.m.
The Global Training Initiative will facilitate a 90-minute interactive workshop to guide students through exercises in self-awareness, other-awareness and cultural knowledge and begin the process of developing cultural competence. Students will work together to recognize cultural differences and articulate solutions for overcoming areas of conflict.
Popcorn and Privilege
Talley Student Union, Room 3285, 6:00 p.m.
Join the Center for Student Leadership, Ethics and Public Service for interactive activities and meaningful conversation in a safe space to aid students in becoming more knowledgeable about privilege and how it impacts the systems that have affected our society.
Conversations on Race and Ethnicity
Talley Student Union, Room 4140, 6:00 p.m.
Led by the American Justice Corps, this event will combine speakers and interactive activities to focus on how racial oppression affects different public spheres of life: government, business, education and academia and include conversations on inclusion, exclusion and solutions to oppression.
Cinema, Conversations and Change: Radio
Witherspoon Student Center Cinema, 7:00 p.m.
The Diversity Activities Board of the University Activities Board (UAB) will host the film, Radio, a fictional film that follows a mentally disabled African American male and his experience in a racially divided town. Following the film, the Counseling Center will lead a 30-minute debriefing about the topics the film discusses, such as intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Sankofa Journey Through Film
Witherspoon Student Center, Room 356, 7:20 p.m.
The Beta chapter of Theta Nu Xi Sorority, Inc. and the Mu Xi chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. will host a viewing and discussion of the Netflix original movie Step Sisters, about a member of a historically Black sorority teaching a predominantly white sorority a step routine to compete in a regional contest. An outside facilitator will be brought in to aid the flow of the discussion, which will touch on the topics of the representation of Greek life and cultural appreciation versus appropriation.
International Festival
Stafford Commons, 12:00 p.m.
The International Festival is an exciting afternoon celebrating the diverse cultures and identities of the NC State community. Booths feature educational information, pictures, activities and food to help introduce attendees to a specific country, culture or region. A performance showcase runs on the main stage throughout the event, with performances representing a variety of cultures and traditions. Campus departments coordinate the “What’s Next?” tables highlighting opportunities for students to increase their cultural knowledge and experiences after the festival.
Classroom Chatter Language: Diversity in the Classroom
Tompkins Hall, Room G118, 1:00 p.m.
Join the Language Diversity Ambassadors to learn about language diversity in the classroom as they talk about inclusive language, dialect diversity and non-native English speakers and American Sign Language in the classroom. They will also have games and prizes.
- See the Diversity Education Week Revisited website.