Diversity card holds final event

There are many aspects that are important in life. Respect, honesty, and kindness are some examples. One point that not everyone has realized is so vital is diversity. It is a crucial necessity to treat all people equally and provide equal opportunities. Diversity has evolved into an important part of our everyday lives in the United States of America. On Thursday, November 14, Iowa Lakes Community College hosted their final Diversity Card Project event at the Emmetsburg campus.

Students on the campus were asked to write down 6 words about their observations and experiences with diversity. Race, gender, age, religion and other topics were encouraged, but the discussion was left open. The cards the students provided were then hung on a whiteboard with statistics on the topic. Several Iowa Lakes employees attended the event to provide expertise on the topics. Shannon Motter, Erica Kilian, Kent Schmidt, Steve Pelzer, and David Morin were the employees who attended.

Shannon Motter was also the person behind the event. The diversity card held events all through October and the first half of November. Motter, who is a mother and breadwinner of her family, believes that this event was important to hold for everyone who attended and more.

“This event was very important to me because I recognize that Iowa Lakes Community College is a great institution that represents a wide range of individuals from a variety of backgrounds,” said Motter. “Participants discussed how others stereotype them based on these categories and sometimes even say negative things to them or about them based on incorrect assumptions. Some participants became very emotional during the discussions and wished that they could have continued on with their discussions after the event.”

Due to some of the participants becoming emotional and wanting to continue the discussion, another event is being planned for diversity. The event being planned will include even more experts in the field. These experts were referred to as human books. The date of the next event is being determined.