Upcoming Events to Focus on Unity

Bringing the College community together will be the theme of three September events. The activities, sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Diversity Awareness Committee, and the Office of First Year Programs and Orientation, are free and open to the public.

On Thursday, September 7, an hourlong unity celebration will be held at noon at the "free speech rock" outside the Campus Center. Speakers at the program will include Roger Richardson, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs; Brian McAree, acting vice president for student affairs and campus life; Daniel Tillapaugh '01, president of the Student Government Association; and Brent Scarpo, a documentary filmmaker and producer. An open house in the Office of Multicultural Affairs, 324 Egbert Hall, will follow, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.

Then, at 7:30 p.m. in the Emerson Suites, Scarpo will present segments from his acclaimed new film, Journey to a Hate-Free Millennium, with a discussion to follow. The film, which offers a powerful message about the need to work for a world without ignorance and prejudice, includes interviews with Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard, the gay college student murdered in Laramie, Wyoming; family members of James Byrd, the African American man dragged to death in Jasper, Texas; and a former neo-Nazi who now speaks out against hate and violence.

Scarpo, a Hollywood casting director for such major films as The Shawshank Redemption, That Thing You Do, and Air Force One, left Hollywood after his mother's death from lung cancer changed his perspective on the world. He formed his own production company, New Light Media, for the purpose of achieving social change through film. Journey to a Hate-Free Millennium is one of the products of Scarpo's company.

"I recognized change was not necessarily a force that acts upon us," he says, "but a force we can choose to enact."

The fourth annual Unity Relays will round out the complement of unity activities. The event will be held on Saturday, September 9, at 10:00 a.m. at Butterfield Stadium. Teams of students, faculty, and staff will gather to participate in a series of 4x400-meter relay races. Participants also have the option of choosing a half-mile fun run/walk or wheelchair race.

Those interested in taking part in the races or in volunteering are asked to preregister by filling out the form distributed to the campus community, visiting the registra-tion table at the free speech rock on Unity Day, or contacting the Office of Multicultural Affairs at 274-1692.