Student Diversity Council event explores social injustice issues
By Alexis Ancel, News Editor//
Diversity is widely celebrated at High Point University, but diversity issues are still prominent throughout the world and particularly in our own community. To address these issues, on Sept. 19, the Student Diversity Council hosted a one day event entitled “HPU’s Next Step: Change Agent Retreat.”
This retreat was designed to educate students on diversity issues as well as help them understand what they can do to make a difference and advocate for social justice in their community.
HPU senior Mayeesa Mitchell brought the event to HPU after attending a similar conference last semester at Chatham University.
After teaming up with Tiffany Jones, a fellow HPU senior, and doing further research, the pair started going through the necessary channels to take this event to HPU. The retreat has been in the works since March and both Mitchell and Jones worked extensively on it all throughout the summer.
“Our goal is to educate students on diversity issues and give them the opportunity to learn what they can do to make an impact,” Mitchell said.
This all day event was held at Mount Zion Baptist Church in High Point. It was hosted by four HPU students who did most of the planning and organizing, along with six faculty and staff members who helped lead small groups and workshops.
Amongst these faculty members were Dr. Judy Isaksen, HPU professor of Media and Popular Culture Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies.
“This is crucial work. I personally have the utmost respect for May and the devoted members of HPU’s Diversity Council who are committed to matters of justice and willing to do this important work,” said Isaksen.
One portion of the day was primarily educational and consisted of different themed workshops on gender, cultural worldviews and power and privilege.
Within these workshops, students participated in activities such as a privilege walk and a “crossing the line” activity. The privilege walk was designed to show students how certain opportunities can influence their lives, while the crossing the line activity focused on showing how essentially similar people are despite certain differences.
Shannon Barr, HPU alumna and current NC Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA, also participated in this retreat and spoke on the importance of learning about diversity issues.
“I am honored to be a part of such an impactful and important conversation about social justice and diversity. It is necessary for us, as unique members of a diverse community, to continuously dig deeper, wrestle with challenging concepts, and engage in honest conversations that require us to open our minds and our hearts in new ways,” Barr said.
Mitchell mentioned that another main goal of the event was to spark interest in other HPU students so that progress with these issues can continue on campus after the current leaders have graduated.
“The assumption is that you have to be diverse to participate, but diversity issues affect us all,” Mitchell said.