Spreading Diversity With Respect

Photo Credit: Jason Ruiz

Students can win a free membership to the SRWC if they correctly 

identify the gay member of the panel.

     The inaugural "Respect Week" at CSULB begins Monday April 25 with a week full of scheduled activities to help students confront stereotypes and generalizations in an effort to build a stronger sense of respect for all fellow students regardless of culture, religion or sexual orientation.

     CSULB is an eclectic campus when it comes to cultural diversity with transfer students from Australia to Thailand electing to pursue their degree at Long Beach. That is exactly why the idea of "Respect Week" is both necessary and practical, to help students gain insights on their ever diversifying classmates.

     James Sauceda, the director of the Multicultural Center on campus hopes that a lot of good will come out of these events as students will be exposed to new things and hopefully gain an understanding of their classmates' differences. Sauceda commented on the matter in the student newspaper, the Daily 49er:

      "We want you to leave having dispelled stereotypes of another culture, having learned something, having left out the easy cover for the bigger challenge, having sat down with other people of different cultures and introduced yourself," Sauceda said

      Among the scheduled events which include a capoeira demonstration (Braziliain art of dance fighting) and a movie night with free popcorn is a contest hosted by KBeach where contestants will be asked to test their gaydar for a chance to win a free summer member ship to the Recreation and Wellness Center.

     In the game, titled "Guess Who's Gay", students will be asked to identify the secret panelist that is gay after reviewing the answers to 20 questions answered by members of the panel. The point of the game is to demonstrate how stereotypes aren't always accurate. After the contest, the gay member of the panel will speak to the crowd about how hate speech has affected them and their lives.
   
     The game will take place Wednesday April 27 in front of the Student Recreation and Wellness Center from 12:00-3:00 p.m. .