EIGHT DAYS OF DIVERSITY EVENTS TO TAKE PLACE MARCH 22 TO 30

Students from an array of campus organizations have come together to create a full schedule of events for Diversity Week 2004, says coordinator Faith Wallace-Gadsden ’05. In fact, "there was so much interest in having events that we had an overflow," says Gadsden, and the "week" will last eight days, from Monday, March 22, to Tuesday, March 30. All during the week, students in the dining halls and Campus Center will be taking bids in a silent auction of items donated by the faculty and staff. Proceeds will go to BEBASHI, a a Philadelphia-based, nonprofit AIDS/HIV organization.

A kickoff event on Monday will feature foods from a variety of cultural groups, traditional craft workshops including henna painting, and entertainment by Everyday People, an a cappella group from Stanford University. Events include films, lectures, discussions and performances. Among the topics: globalization, the role of race in political representation, gay parenting, the concept of whiteness, the life of a man with cerebral palsy, the role of women in Islam, and more. A dinner and discussion sponsored by the Batten House Collective and Sisterhood, the African American students’ association, will explore the question of segregation on the Bryn Mawr campus.

The Diversity Week Culture Show, scheduled for Saturday, March 27, at 7 p.m. in Thomas Great Hall, will feature performances by students representing many of the cultural groups on campus. This year’s show will offer more poetry and spoken-word performances than previous years’ shows, says Gadsden-Wallace. The show includes "one segment when the audience is invited to speak out and share their own writing," she says.

Diversity Week is organized entirely by students. Among the organizers are Gadsden-Wallace, who coordinated the schedule; Ruth Zohrer ’05, head of publicity; Ivette Tarrida ‘05, coordinator of the culture show; Paula Arboleda ‘05, coordinator of the silent auction; and Rachel Clark ’06, the secretary and assistant organizer. For a complete schedule of Events, click here.

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