The EWU Office for Diversity and Inclusion has created an outstanding lineup of events for this year’s Diversity and Inclusion Week. Students, faculty and staff will have multiple opportunities to learn, grow and unite during the annual event, which began Monday and runs through May 10. All sessions are free. Many include food, candy and/or swag.
“Diversity and Inclusion Week is important because it is an opportunity for students, faulty and staff to learn,” says Kim Davis, director of diversity. “The campus collaborates on a great variety of events that demonstrate the intersections of our identities, while focusing on our individual stories.”
Events this year range from a variety of thought-provoking lectures and talks, to a wheelchair basketball shooting contest and a soccer tournament. Presentations throughout the week will tackle a number of important topics, including diversity and wages, race and culture in the classroom, stigma surrounding mental illness and gender diversity in American politics — just to name a few.
Wednesday’s lineup adds another big campus initiative, the Prairie Restoration Project launch. EWU is celebrating a unique initiative to restore farmland owned by the university to its native habitat. The event will also unveil the proposed location of the Lucy Covington Center. Covington was a pioneer of diversity and inclusion who fought to end the federal policy of tribal termination and shift our nation’s policy back toward tribal self-governance and self-determination. The future Lucy Covington Center will house historical documents and support academic and leadership programs for Native youth.
Friday, May 10 is Eagle Spirit Day. Eags are encouraged to wear their Diversity and Inclusion Week t-shirt dating from any of the week’s eight-year history. The week will then wrap up with the Diversity and Inclusion Awards Friday evening. For the full calendar of events, times and locations, please go to the Diversity and Inclusion Week website.
