We live in a world where people may judge us at first glance, and although the quote “Don’t judge a book by its cover” exists, unfortunately, some of the world still perceives people as only what they identify as. The question here is how can we as college students break through this social norm?
On Thursday, Sept. 13, during Saint Leo University’s campus-wide Wellness Week, students got together in the boardrooms to celebrate their differences. The event was known as ‘I Am More Than My Labels’ and filled the room with a celebration of diversity and broke through normal societal barriers that our world has grown accustomed to. The event was run by multiple on-campus organizations such as Student Activities, Greek Life, Green Dot, Title IX, Prism, Intercultural Student Association and Resident Life.
In the beginning of the event students were given a ticket in which they would have to visit and complete the tasks/activities at each table in order to fill the ticket. The ticket would later be put in a bucket to be drawn for a giveaway. During the event, students were encouraged to wear their labels (anything one may identify as) on a sticky tag, along with another tag stating “I am more than my labels.” This was to prove that no matter what, students’ labels do not constrict their abilities in life, as well as promoting anything they put their heart and mind into is achievable.
One of the many interesting activities that students could get involved with in the boardrooms included two personal connection bingo games ran by the Title IX and Student Activities tables. The bingo games allowed students to get to know each other differently, as they required students to not only ask for just the typical name, but for deeper facts that make them who they are. An example tile on the game included someone who is left-handed and someone who knows American Sign Language. This could have created new friendships, as well as allowed current friends to learn new things about each other.
Another featured activity was run by Prism, the on-campus Gay-Straight Alliance, the table had identity groups on a large piece of paper and little cutouts of labels that could be placed over the identities. The job for the students visiting the table was to label each group, and this was perceived as hard for students like Anthony Fontana, a math and theatre double major. “It was extremely hard for me to finish because once I used all of my positive descriptions, I wasn’t able to use negative words to describe the people remaining. I felt hurt for the groups of people who have to go through verbal harassment every day.” The purpose of the activity is to put you in the shoes of society’s view on people and to realize that people go through this kind of thing every day. This activity really pulled a few heartstrings and definitely made a great impact on students.
One more activity that was eye-opening at this event was a coloring page, presented by Green Dot’s table. The paper had shown two circles, the first circle on the right was to show what society may view of the students and the second was the way the students saw themselves. The students each saw the difference in how society may view them versus how they really are. Each single coloring page was unique in their own ways. Elizabeth Smith, an English major on campus, had quoted, after doing this coloring page “Diversity is one of the main reasons I attended Saint Leo, and just being here at this event just makes my love for this school stronger.” This was an incredible activity because people are far more diverse than just what they look like on the outside.
Intercultural Student Association also held a table that attacked culture social norms dead on; they had asked students to match pictures of people to where they were from around the world. This made students such as social work major Christopher Feliciano, question whether or not he judges based on the color of someone’s skin tone. “I had learned to never assume where someone is from just because of the color of their skin, the whole world is a giant melting pot, and each country has an assortment of people.”
This event overall is a wonderful way to express Saint Leo University’s Benedictine Core Values; this was best said by one of our multimedia management majors, Adam Alexander, “We live by the values of community, respect and excellence… but we sometimes forget to be free of judgment. We are all unique individuals with stories to tell, so this event was a way to remind us not to judge a book by its cover.” As college students, we represent our future and can show the world that diversity is normal, and we should be able to talk about it as the strong individuals we are. So, here is to our future…Go Lions!
