The Associated Students of Madison Diversity Committee met Monday to discuss the group’s plan to create a week themed around diversity.The first annual “Diversity Week” is tentatively scheduled for the week of April 15, 2013.
ASM Diversity Committee Chair Mia Akers said the event would aim to engage students who are not specifically interested in diversity issues to think about the issue on a broader level.
Victoria Atkinson, the ASM intern on the project, said the week would designate each of the five weekdays to promoting understanding of adifferent type of diversity.
Atkinson said funding for the event has not yet been decided but would be acquired via ASM monies or grants.
Tentatively, the week will feature a sexuality day, multicultural day, religious diversity day, women’s day and a disability day.
The group also debated how to address “intersectionality” between the different types of diversity.
Akers said she hopes the event would probe students’ minds and make them think about how their own identities are “compiled.”
“We are trying to say to people that you don’t have to be a minority, you don’t have to be an underrepresented group to be able to feel like you’re diverse or that you have a unique identity,” Akers said. “Thisis really for all students."
