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University of West Georgia
Center for Diversity and Inclusion
1601 Maple Street
Row Hall - East Wing, 2nd Floor
Carrollton, GA 30118
(678) 839-5400
(678) 839-5402
cdi@westga.edu
Diverse, Engaged & Inclusive.
“The value of inclusiveness is evident in our commitment to celebrating our diversity, our collaborative spirit, and creating a welcoming campus that is emotionally and physically safe for all.” A UWG Core Value.
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Mix It Up at Lunch: Not Just for Kids!
This fall marks an important anniversary for students, faculty, staff and administrators
at the University of West Georgia (UWG). They’ve been “mixing it up” for a decade
now as part of Mix It up at Lunch Day, Teaching Tolerance’s international campaign
encouraging students to identify, question and cross social boundaries by sitting
with new friends at lunch.
At UWG, 580 people participated last October. They joined students at 48 other colleges and universities and more than 3,200 K–12 schools that signed up for the program. The UWG staff are Mix It Up veterans; they began celebrating “Mix Day” in 2009, after the Southern Poverty Law Center’s director of outreach, Lecia Brooks, gave a presentation there. Brooks spoke with Deirdre Haywood-Rouse and Doris Kieh, two staffers at the school’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion, about Mix It Up. The Center now hosts the program annually.
The Center for Diversity and Inclusion focuses on three goals for the program: to help students engage in dialogue with someone new and interact with people outside of their normal social circles; to encourage people to be more comfortable in interacting with others; and to promote awareness and understanding between students from different backgrounds.
Around 30 student volunteers serve as greeters at the dining facilities where Mix It Up is held, encouraging classmates to join in as they come in for lunch. Participating students, faculty, staff and administrators receive “Mix It Up” buttons and choose conversation starter slips from a bowl at their table.
The topics vary, but students might discuss culture, ethnicity, ability, campus inclusion or their own experiences with diversity at their school. “When you talk about these things, barriers break down,” Haywood-Rouse says. Some of the conversation starters are more casual, such as, “If you could have been born anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?” or “Tell us about your favorite holiday or tradition.” Also included in the bowls are more probing questions, such as, “Why do you think women generally get paid less than men for identical work?” Haywood-Rouse and Kieh say providing students with a choice about conversation topics helps them to feel more comfortable opening up to new friends, which—even as a young adult—can still be a little intimidating.
UWG is a great example of how Mix It Up can be adapted to make any setting more inclusive. If your school, workplace or program wasn’t able to take part in this year’s National Mix It Up at Lunch Day on October 23, it’s never too late! We hope you’ll mix it up year-round—and for years to come.
Exerpt from Teaching Tolerance (November 5, 2018) by Jey Ehrenhalt. Ehrenhalt is the school programs coordinator at Teaching Tolerance.
This year, students, faculty, staff and administrators will mix it up at the UCC, Z-6 and East Commons on Tuesday, October 22..