For over a week, flyers around campus alerting students to be on Brock Commons at 3:15 p.m. sharp on Sept. 30 baffled the campus community. The mystery was answered when over 100 Longwood students, faculty and staff showed up to make a stand for diversity through the event sponsored by the Student Diversity & Inclusion Council (SDIC) through the Office of Diversity & Inclusion.
When the clock struck 3:15 p.m., senior and SDIC Social Activist Chair, Octavia Moton, asked, "Are you ready?" right before participants removed their sweatshirts and jackets to reveal a solid white T-shirt bearing only the words "I am more than" followed by a diverse attribute. Some shirts read, "I am more than my economic status" and others read, "I am more than my disability." On the back, they all shared a common motto, "Allies for Identities."
A moment of silence then took place while the participants linked arms, acting as a single force to spread awareness about diversity on campus. "We wanted to bring attention to the fact that we are all Lancers by doing this," Moton said.
"We wanted to create an event that would get people thinking about diversity while making it as interesting as possible to see," said SDIC Chair, Sarah Key. She said the location, in front of Lankford Student Union, was chosen due to its heavy traffic area and its proximity to where the Oktoberfest weekend was about to kick off.
Key explained how participants were picked in a rather interesting fashion. "We did a tree system where members of the council went to friends, family and staff on the Longwood campus and asked them if they would be willing to participate in an event, and we didn't give them any details till the information meeting the day before so that we could keep it a surprise." She said they were able to attract such a big crowd because the "council members reached out to so many people and made this event a great one."
Senior Ausean Williams was a participant who received an email from one of the council members, Rosa Townes, asking if he was interested in taking part in the event. "Anything dealing with diversity is very important and needs to be known here at Longwood," said Williams. "We are more than just what our shirts say."
Key said, "It's important because a lot of people are so quick to judge others by what they see on the outside rather than getting to know who they are on a personal level. We wanted to show that there are things that you can't see that make people who they are, and that's not a bad thing."
The 25-member SDIC plans educational and informative programs to heighten campus awareness and knowledge regarding human differences. According to their website, they also "assist student organizations with developing a greater comfort and competence when working with and recruiting members from various social identities and backgrounds."
The SDIC also works to promote five core values: "social and intercultural consciousness; equity, equality and access; tolerance, acceptance and celebration of diversity and human difference; freedom of civil and ethical expression; personal and civic responsibility.
"We just want to bring awareness to all the different people on our campus, in our community and in our lives because everyone deserves to be treated equally, and that is what we are striving for with this new student council," said Key. "We are people who love people."
