On October 2, members of the Office of Multicultural Initiatives, Student Leadership, and Inclusive Excellence along with the Murray State University Alumni will host a Diversity Symposium. The Symposium will consist of an opening address from Dr. Aaron Thompson, President of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education and conversations from alumni and other community leaders.
“This is an opportunity for Murray State University and the greater Murray community to engage in result-orientated dialogue relative to diversity and inclusivity,” said Dr. SG Carthell, executive director of the Office of Multicultural Initiatives, Student Leadership and Inclusive Excellence.
Students, staff, alumni, and other community members are invited to join in order to understand and increase their awareness of the diversity on Murray State’s campus.
In a recent presidential update, MSU President Bob Jackson said the symposium aims to promote and celebrate diversity, increase cultural competence, encourage involvement, and endorse discussion. The Keynote and conversations will be streamed live at www.murraystate.edu/streaming.
During the 2015 Diversity Symposium, Carthell discussed destruction of Hijab awareness fliers hung by the Muslim Student Organization in Faculty Hall on Murray’s campus. These posters were vandalized with offensive words and during an interview with local media, Carthell said the posters “had no agenda, not a political agenda. They were just sharing about how they dress and what it means.”
In response to that incident, the university’s Emerging Scholars Organization placed boards with the four principles of diversity around campus for students to sign to spread awareness of the issue to reinforce Murray State’s intolerance of discrimination.
Recent data indicates Kentucky is among the top 10 states with the highest rate of white supremecist propaganda displayed around local colleges. On September 21, several Murray State students reported fliers containing a web link to a white supremicist page were left on their vehicles in campus parking lots.
