Student groups come together to create diversity theme
Released: October 23, 2007
Diversity is highly valued on the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus. To that end, the Multicultural Student Council and the student chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) have joined efforts to develop a year-long program to bring students of diverse backgrounds together. Sponsored by Interim Chancellor Richard Telfer, the goal of these efforts is to create a diversity theme for the 2007-08 academic year and develop a series of activities that emphasize diversity and unite the campus.
"The beauty of this program is that it will bring together students of diverse backgrounds to talk about their similarities and differences," Chancellor Telfer said. "I think it's a wonderful way to expand our discussions of diversity and I believe the program can only help strengthen the UW-Whitewater campus."
Leading the charge is Carolina Calvillo, chair of the Multicultural Student Council and Katie Zimmerman, an executive board member of the American Marketing Association.
"Many students have not been exposed to diversity in the past and due to this some may have certain misconceptions about certain groups," Calvillo said. "Diversity needs to be addressed to erase those misconceptions and encourage the students to get out of their comfort zone and get to know others who are different from them."
Zimmerman added, "I'm hoping that this program will open the eyes of many college students to learn about all the different cultures in the world."
Chancellor Telfer will highlight the Multicultural Student Council's and AMA's joint effort with a speech on "The Importance of Diversity on Campus," at 4:15 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 24 in Winther Hall, room 2001. Members from the various multicultural student organizations and AMA will be in attendance. The general public is also encouraged to attend.
For more information, contact Calvillo at calvilloc19@uww.edu or Zimmerman at zimmermakb03@uww.edu.
- Melissa DiMotto,dimottom@uww.edu
