The Student Events and Activities Board and the Caribbean Student Association will sponsor Unity Week to celebrate student diversity from Jan. 22 to Jan. 30.
CSA Vice President and SEA Thursday Chair Tiffany Simmons, junior marketing major, said the purpose of Unity Week is to remind students to not simply tolerate diversity, but to truly appreciate each other’s differences.
This year’s Unity Week is the first since 2010. SEA Board Entertainment Chair and CSA Public Relations Officer Danielle McCalla, junior communication studies major, discovered that Unity Week had been celebrated in 2009 with the Wall of Hate, a cinder block wall that students painted with hateful words and then tore down to represent that such language is not acceptable at NSU. McCalla thought it would be a good thing for CSA to organize and when she mentioned her idea to SEA Board, the two groups decided to combine resources.
McCalla said, “The Wall of Hate is a standing symbol of unity in NSU and what’s more unifying than a [student] organization and Student Activities coming together?”
McCalla explained that participants will be asked to cover the Wall of Hate with hateful words, terms that degrade a group of people or lower any individual’s self-esteem. The wall will be torn down on Jan. 30 from noon to 1 p.m. in a celebration featuring performances from the CSA dance team and the Sharkettes.
Unity Week will begin on Jan. 22 with the War on Hate Unity Week Kick Off Party and Greek Yard Show from 8 to 10 p.m. near the Shark Fountain. The event will feature free food, including hot dogs and corn dogs. Students will be invited to paint cinder blocks for the wall and several fraternities and sororities will perform stomp routines.
Simmons said students can paint as many bricks as they want at the Kick Off and at two more events: SEA Thursday and Let Go of Hate. On Jan. 23, SEA Thursday, a bi-weekly event that’s usually held in the UC spine, will be held at the Library Quad, with a special Shark Pride theme.
The next day, CSA and SEA Board will join Radio X to sponsor Let Go of Hate at the Shark Circle at 11 a.m. Radio X will play music while students paint bricks.
The Wall of Hate will be erected in the Alvin Sherman Library Quad on Jan. 27 with an accompanying sign, explaining what the wall is about. From noon to 1 p.m. that day, students will be invited to discuss their experiences with stereotypes and prejudices in Talk Back Wall, an event in the UC spine.
McCalla thinks this is an ideal time to invite the student community to discuss diversity.
“In a time when people are angry about a lot of things, like the Trayvon Martin shooting, it’s important for us as a student community to understand that NSU is a safe place,” she said.
On Jan. 28, from noon to 4 p.m., the Soul Pancake Ball Pit will be held in the UC spine. Participants will go into an inflatable pool filled with balls, some of which will have a discussion topic written on them. Students will use the topics as prompts to speak to other participants and learn something about them.
“The idea behind it is for you to get into the ball pit with someone that you don’t know,” McCalla said. “And you’re not allowed to leave until you find a common ground.”
On Jan. 29, Debra Nixon, assistant professor in the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, will speak about inclusion on the second floor of the UC. At this event, students will paint paper bricks with positive words to create a Wall of Love, which will be displayed in the UC windows.
“It’s the anti-Wall of Hate,” Simmons said. “[Nixon] will speak not about hate but about the good things about each other, the good things about our differences and our cultures.”
McCalla said students should celebrate the things that make each individual unique.
“We’re not trying to change the world but we are trying to start discussion about these things in our own community. Why not start at home? Many of us consider [NSU] home,” McCalla said.
For more information about Unity Week or to get involved, email McCalla at dm1840@nova.edu or Simmons at ts1122@nova.edu.
