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During the week of Feb. 27-March 4, the Student Government Association (SGA) is hosting a campus-wide Diversity Week in collaboration with other organizations on campus.
The Student Government Association (SGA) serves the student body of Pittsburg State University on a campus-wide level by voicing the concerns and issues that impact students to administrators and faculty. In this scenario, the issue is diversity. Diversity is sometimes overlooked. On PSU’s campus, there are many students from many different backgrounds, and SGA wants to bring attention to that.
“I am so excited to bring this to Pitt State as I hope it can bring great collaboration, awareness of diversity, and fun to campus,” said Rachel Ruiz, Multicultural Affairs Director for SGA. “I am looking forward to watching various organizations come together and collaborate to dedicate a week to show diversity.”
The idea behind it is to showcase diversity from all types of cultures that are on campus,” Ruiz said. “This is a great way for Pitt State to put action behind the claim that we welcome diversity on campus.”
Throughout the week there will be different events daily. On Monday, HOT (Hispanics of Today) and NASA (Native American Student Association) are hosting a social mixer with food, dancing, hand games, and music. There will be a Staff and Faculty Diversity Panel on Tuesday. Wednesday’s event is a DEI Showcase with the Panhellenic Council and AAUW (Altruistic Alliance of University Women). On Thursday there will be an event brough by BSA (Black Student Association), and Friday there will be tabling by Spanish Club, French Club, and the International Student Association. Lastly, there will be an International Food and Culture Fair on Saturday.
The idea of Diversity Week has been floating around the Student Government Association for a few years and is just now going into effect. The idea was originally brought about by the person who was in Ruiz’s position before her.
“I decided to host this event after a past SGA Multicultural Affairs Director, Raj Thakor, brought the idea up a few years ago,” Ruiz said. “After spending some time with the idea once I got into this position, I saw that many universities in Kansas and nationwide host Diversity Week with great success.”
Within the university, there are many different organizations that represent different cultures, and there are even students from various cultures and cultural backgrounds who go to school here. Celebrating a week of diversity entails more than just celebration, it is also a warm welcome.
“With this being the first year of Diversity Week, I really hope that it can be an annual tradition that continues to build for the years to come,” Ruiz said. “My favorite part so far with planning this has been meeting leaders of organizations and collaboration with all the organizations that are committed to diversity.”