Syracuse University’s Student Association kicked off the second annual Diversity Week with a Pride Parade on Sunday. Hosted in Schine Student Center, the parade featured food, music and a photo booth with props.

Senior SA members Diasia Robinson and Khalid Khan, co-chairs of the organization’s diversity affairs committee, said Diversity Week’s mission is to create a space for inclusivity on campus and celebrate a diverse campus community with events for everyone.

The second event of Diversity Week is a comedy show on Monday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Schine Underground. Two SU students will be the opening act for stand-up comedian Anish Shah.

“The comedian is from an eastern Indian background … and we truly believe he can connect to a certain population of the student body,” Khan said.

On Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Schine Atrium, students can also pay $2 to participate in DPS “Pie-in-the-Face,” according to SA’s Facebook page, as part of Diversity Week. All proceeds of the event will go to the Dunbar Center, a community organization dedicated to fighting poverty and inequality.

“We understand that a lot of DPS officers and students have this tension between them,” Khan said. “We want to do this to work toward a solution for that.”

A #nohate candlelight vigil will be the last event of the week. The vigil will be held Thursday evening on the steps of Hendricks Chapel. Brian Konkol, dean of Hendricks Chapel, is scheduled to speak Thursday.

“It’s also a response to safety on college campuses,” Robinson said. “With what happened in Charlottesville, students in the South felt unsafe on their college campuses, so we want to reaffirm Syracuse University as a place for no hate, no discrimination and no place for white supremacists or any sort of violence.”

Several people were injured and one person killed during clashes between white nationalist groups and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia last August.

All events are accessible and made to be as inclusive as possible, Khan said.

“(The parade is) a great way to celebrate pride,” said Sophia Faram, chair of SA’s Board of Elections and Membership. “I’m looking forward to a lot of the different events we have and really meeting all different types of people, and just getting to enjoy how diverse of a campus we truly have.”  

Published on March 25, 2018 at 8:27 pm

Contact Jessi: jmsopori@syr.edu