The University of Wisconsin-Madison Associated Students of Madison Diversity Committee continued planning for the upcoming Diversity Day at the committee’s first meeting of the semester Thursday.
The intended purpose behind holding Diversity Day is to provide awareness of the different cultures, races and identities on campus, Diversity Committee Chair Jessica Behling said.
“I am hoping that students from across campus will have the opportunity to come learn about different identities of their fellow students on campus and break down some of the walls there are between different identity groups,” Behling said.
Behling said the current plan is to have 30-minute break-out sessions, during which student groups on campus can speak about campus climate to attendees, either through dialogue or performances.
Committee members are working on ways to publicize the event to UW-Madison students, as Behling said she wants to get as many people there as possible. The committee said they hope to attract students at the Student Organization Fair next week, as well as through media posts and flyers.
The event will take place Feb. 11 from 5-9 p.m. at Union South.
Behling also mentioned the committee’s future plan to work with Students for Equitable Law Enforcement, in an attempt to decrease situations of racial profiling.
“We’re trying to get more work down on the state level so that police officers have to go through a specific training program,” Behling said. “The law enforcement problem that we have across the country is probably the biggest issue for diversity work right now because it just keeps getting worse and worse.”
