Summit fosters diversity dialogue

The Black Student Union and CommUnity Educators held a "Unity Summit" Monday as part of Bloomington's Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities. The topics discussed were non-violence, race relations, racial profiling, discrimination, equality and affirmative action. \nFor many students involved, the summit's approach made it unique. \n"The approach they took caught me by surprise," junior Erik Dillon said. Dillon said he expected the summit to be an "average panel discussion" where one speaker discusses several topics and the audience responds with questions afterwards. To his surprise, that was not the case. \nUpon entering the Frangipani Room of the Indiana Memorial Union, participants were given a number and grouped by tables. Each table was given a topic to discuss and create a small skit to perform before the entire group.\n"This was more effective," Dillon said. "It let everyone see first hand how these topics really affect us, and allowed us to give real-life personal experiences. Everyone's been engaged in the skits and participating well." \nThe summit also forced people to open up and be creative.\n"I'm happy because we really got people to open up," sophomore Carolyn Randolph said. "There's been graduate and undergraduate students, faculty and people from the community being very open to share their ideas and points of view." \nA group of students also created and presented a skit on racial profiling, illustrating how people are treated in stores and restaurants based on their race. Many students could attest to at least one case of this happening in their own lives. Several participants explained how they handled it and offered advice to students in similar situations. \nJunior Cheryl Cromer related one such experience, when she felt she was discriminated against in a restaurant.\n"I just left the fast food restaurant," Cromer said. "(Because)...I was invisible. It was embarrassing."\nStudents interested in continuing the discussion of the topics outlined Monday may participate in Conversations on Race, a workshop meeting Feb. 3-Mar. 8.