The campus community is invited to participate in UALR’s first Diversity Week, which includes themed activities with guest speakers, films, art displays, performances, open courses, and a lunch-and-learn.

The Diversity Council is committed to creating a diverse campus as well as impacting the greater community. The council was created to lead the first Diversity Week and to be an example in the quest for racial and ethnic justice.

A few highlights of the week:

Monday, April 13

• The Sequoyah National Research Center, located in the University Plaza, will provide tours so the public may view the gallery and archive displays. Tours will be given at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
• A traditional Cherokee stickball demonstration will be held outside West Hall at noon.
• Inaugural speaker and distinguished guest, Chairman John Berrey of the Quapaw Tribe, will present “Native Americans: Who We Are” at 1:45 p.m. in room 203 of the Engineering and Information Technology (EIT) Building.
• Dance, sing, and talk with members of the Native American Student Association from Tahlequah, Okla., at 2:15, also in EIT 203.
• “The Cherokee Word for Water” will be shown at 3:15 in EIT 203. The film shows how Wilma Mankiller helped move a Cherokee community to rebuild through traditional Native values of reciprocity and interdependence.
• A student poetry performance will be held at 8 p.m. in the University Commons.

Tuesday, April 14

• Sharon Downs will present “Reframing Disability” at 10 a.m. in the Donaghey Student Center (DSC), room G.
• Rosalie Otters will present “What Has Age Got to Do with It?” at noon in the DSC, room G
• A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Coming Out panel will be held at 3 p.m. in the DSC, room G.
• The film, “Self-Made Man,” about a transgender community, will be shown in the Ottenheimer Library, room 535, at 4:30 p.m. There will be an introduction by Rohn Muse, instructor in the UALR Anthropology Department.

Wednesday, April 15

• Activities for students starting at 10 a.m. and ending at noon in the DSC Concourse. Booths featuring diversity groups will be available for student interaction.
• Ruth Shepherd will lead a lunch-and-learn about just communities programs and activities at noon in the DSC room G.
• Tunnel of Oppression will open for viewing at 8 p.m. in the University Commons. The immersive experience helps visitors encounter various forms of oppression through interactive theater, monologues, posters, multimedia presentations, and more. Participants will discuss the experience and learn how they can rethink their role in creating positive social change.

Thursday, April 16

• A Faces of Disability forum will be held by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, focusing on disabilities that aren’t always visible, at 10 a.m in DSC, room G.
• Students may learn about setting up LGBTQ safe zones on campus through training by Safe Zone from 1 to 4:30 p.m. in DSC, room D.
• Diversity film show at 8 p.m. in the University Commons.

Friday, April 17

• Dent Gitchel will speak on compassion cultivation as an antidote to discrimination at 10 a.m in DSC room G .
• Kathy Oliverio and Tanya Lemly will lead a lunch discussion at noon on Students Affected by the Military (SAM) in DSC, room G
• Various artists will play in the Diversity Week Jam, a multicultural outdoor performance, beginning at 1 p.m. in the Library Plaza.

Contact Christy Drale at 501.569.3204 for more information.