News Team Boulder

Issue date: 2/17/09 Section: News

"Simply put diversity embodies the simple fact of human differences," said Sallye McKee the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement during the opening remarks of CU's 14th annual Diversity Summit.

The Diversity Summit kicked off Monday to promote awareness, inclusiveness, and support for diversity.

The events began with a large crowd to see the Chancellor "Bud" Peterson give his opening remarks; he even received a round of applause. Yet, as the day went on, attendance seemed to dwindle. This may prove to be a symptom of the problem here at CU.

While CU is using the diversity summit to build awareness and tolerance, after controversial events relating to minorities in the past sparked some concern, it may take even more than free interactive sessions to create an interest in diversity among the student body.

"Interactive theater has been highly successful in that it uses a model to get involved" said Alfonso Keasly, the Vice Chancellor of Campus Climate and Community Engagement. The interactive theater section meant to attract a large student audience and get students involved didn't show stellar attendance.

Volunteers like Rizan Naqeeb remain dedicated to attracting as much student involvement as possible. "We're trying to reach out to students," she said, "encouraging them to speak their mind because these are topics that concern everyone on campus."

While CU has enrolled the highest number of "diverse" freshman in the Fall 2008 class, that number is still only 931 students. Naqeeb would like to see more minorities like herself. "CU is a very accepting campus, but I feel it would be nice if we had more diversity," she said.

The Diversity Summit's two-day program hopes to expand the definition of diversity and encourage all levels of tolerance.

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