Various students, faculty and community members met in the lounge of the Red Gym's Multi Cultural Student Center on Tuesday to discuss sexism on campus. The meeting was part of 'Terrific Tuesdays,' a series of discussions on current diversity issues held by the College of Letters and Sciences' 'Pathways to Excellence' program.
Darren Martin, former UW-Madison student and full-time employee of the College of Letters and Sciences since June 2004, organizes the meetings, but says he does little during the actual gatherings. He usually contacts student organizations to come and facilitate the discussions, which typically draw approximately 50 people.
The Tuesday meeting was dually held by the Strong Talented Young Ladies of Excellence and the Men of Color Institute, an initiative of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.
Though anyone is welcome to come to the meetings, most participants are underrepresented students looking to debate current cultural issues and also add to campus climate, Martin says.
Issues may be related directly to current events or merely concerns voiced by students. Also, discussions integrate issues such as race, gender and sexual diversity into the topic already being covered. Since it is February, Martin says he has thrown out the invitation to presenters to bring black history into the discussion, though he hasn't dedicated a specific meeting to it.
Junior Kristina Mueller, a first-time attendee, said she came because she has always been interested in sexism issues and is currently taking a class on sexual assault.
'I saw the meeting advertised on a poster and felt like it would be a perspective I hadn't heard before,' she said.
Other people present included LGBT Campus Center Director Eric Trekell, who says he tries to periodically attend events including underrepresented students to get a feel of the interests of all groups on campus.
'Every member of an underrepresented group feels a need to interact with others in their situation, and meetings like this provide it,' he said. Though he admitted not being present for the same reasons as most people attending, Trekell still participated in discussion.
