Diversity Week Promotes Inclusiveness

Utah State University’s 8th Annual Diversity Week is Nov. 17-21, and this year’s theme is “Every Color is Beautiful, Unity Through Diversity.” The week is sponsored by the Associated Students of Utah State University.

“USU students should be excited about Diversity Week because it offers an opportunity for all of us to realize that we are all different, and that those differences are good because they make us who we are,” said Chase Skidmore, ASUSU campus diversity vice president. “This is a week when we can learn from one another and gain exposure to different way of life.”

Highlights of the week include “The World Sampler” Monday, Nov. 17, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., where all the multicultural student clubs will host a cookout on the Taggart Student Center Patio.

 

“There will be plenty of different cultural cuisines for everyone to sample,” said Skidmore. “It will be $3 a plate, but they are heaping plates.” 

On Tuesday, Nov. 18, Gary Barkley, a USU alum who served a year in the Iraqi war, will speak  about the issues and challenges he faced as a homosexual in the military. He speaks in the Taggart Student Center Auditorium at 12:30 p.m.

 
The Unity Through Diversity Dance Show is Thursday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. in the Taggart Student Center Evan N. Stevenson Ballroom. The USU Full Circle dance company will perform with a number of other dance groups.  Admission is $3 for students and $5 for the general public. 

The cultural showcase is Friday, Nov. 21, with various cultural performances followed by the Diversity Awards presentation by President Albrecht in the Taggart Student Center Sunburst Lounge from 1:30-3:30 p.m.

 

For a complete list of events visit the Web site.

The ASUSU campus diversity position was created in 2002. It was designed to continue the tradition of Diversity Week, to promote inclusiveness and to give diverse students a voice and the opportunity to be represented. 

“I want students to know that while issues such as ethnicity and skin color are a large part of diversity, it is not just our skin color or our cultural background that defines who we are,” said Skidmore. “This year, Diversity Week will focus on race, ethnicity, culture, education, sexual orientation and diverse interests.  I think the overall hope I have for the week is a better understanding that we are all different and yet we collectively make up what it is to be USU.”

 

The inspiration for the week comes from Anne Frank, “We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.”