Diversify UT

Diversity Week is a long-standing tradition at the University of Toledo that fulfills the purpose of bringing UT students together. This year’s event will be held April 4-8.

Put on by UT Student Government, in collaboration with several different student organizations and university departments, the event aims to bring attention to the various backgrounds of not just the students, but also the faculty and staff at Toledo.

During the week, various student organizations and university departments host a multitude of different events. The first event will be a kickoff party in the Student Union Ingman Room hosted by SG and Diversity Committee, featuring a variety of cultural dishes for students to taste and a colorful display of national flags from around the world. UT president Sharon Gaber will be the guest speaker during the kickoff event.

“It’s a time of celebration of differences,” said Willie McKether, the special assistant to the president for diversity of the University of Toledo. “It’s intended to make sure that faculty, staff and in particular, students, come out and just celebrate things that make us different.”

According to McKether, Diversity Week is not just a time for students, faculty and staff to embrace their differences. He says that this also is a time to “look for those things that also make us alike as well.”

This year’s Diversity Week can be expected to be different than those of the past. According to McKether, the Division of Student Affairs and SG are working together to extend Diversity Week into all of April, establishing a Diversity Month. McKether said that this was inspired by a series of discussions with students relating to inclusion and diversity, and that he believes students desire to have the opportunity to talk more about diversity.

“I think that the focus groups that we had sparked conversations,” McKether said. “I’m a believer that you increase understanding through conversation.”

Ian Michalak, vice president for SG, explained that participating in Diversity Week was much more than just a learning experience for him.

“I learned so much,” Michalak said. “And more than that, I just had fun with other people that had different opinions, different cultures than me.”

Michalak said he feels that Diversity Week really allows for different student organizations to express themselves.

“It brings so many students together,” Michalak said. “I think it will show all the positive aspects that we have in collaborating together and really just learning more about each other.”