More than 340 students, faculty members and even IU Police Department stood up, held hands and vocally declared to protect and support one another in the fight for unity and equality.
Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Summit had them all packed into Indiana Memorial Union’s Alumni Hall.
Nichelle Whitney, senior and member of Delta Phi Epsilon, directed the summit. Numerous volunteers aided Whitney in running the event and leading discussion table questions.
The discussion-based seminar grouped students randomly, encouraging insight in differences of gender, sexuality, race and religion. Attendees filled out a nametag that had a number on it, then sat at a table with the corresponding number.
Strangers gathered in groups of about nine around their ?assigned tables to discuss topics of controversy and ?similarity.
“It’s amazing how the smallest comments made by each person makes such huge impact or shift in the way people see each other,” Whitney said.
Between discussion segments, two guest speakers provided further information on topics of understanding, equality and coming together as allies and minorities. Guest speakers included graduate students Francesca White and Julian Glover.
“In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends,” Glover said in a speech, quoting King.
Glover encouraged attendees to understand the “value and responsibility you have as an ally” to those who are being marginalized by their identity. He emphasized the duty of attendees to be part of the solution in these issues, rather than simply offering them.
Sophomore Tashia ?Roberson, a volunteer at the event, said she feels being comfortable on campus and the connections made between students is a huge part of what the Unity Summit strives to accomplish.
All over the ballroom, posters displayed what students had to say about the topics and issues that drive the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Posters asked students to finish sentences like, “As a minority at IU I feel ...” as well as the opposing view, “As a majority at IU I feel ...”
One poster asked students to identify a group of students on campus they would like to eliminate the most.
Whitney, before presenting the responses to attendees, prompted the “Extinction Activity.”
This is where everyone in the room rose to their feet. They were asked to sit down when a group they were affiliated with was called out. Responses included phrases like “frat boys,” “office of parking operations” and “hypocrites.”
By the end of the ?activity, less than 10 of the original 340 attendees were left standing.
“We do this activity because you can visually conceive what would happen if we eliminated the people you feel should be removed,” Whitney said. “You would be standing alone.”
IU alumna Giovanna Araujo attended the event for the first time Monday. She said she was pleasantly surprised at how effectively the program engaged students and herself throughout the summit.
As the meeting came to a close, students made efforts to exchange phone numbers and invite one another to meetings and activities outside of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Though many attendees entered the ballroom alone, almost everyone exiting the venue left in groups of four or five. Several tables were left with people still engaged in discussing events of the afternoon.
Whitney said she was extremely pleased with the attendance rate and the success of this year’s program.
