Event Overview

On March 29, 2018, Colorado State University (CSU) hosted an event entitled “CSunite: No Place 4 H8”. This event was developed as a response to a large number of bias-motivated incidents that had been occurring on campus. The event was meant to bring the campus community together in solidarity, showing that CSU is not a place that is accepting of hate and bias.

This even originated out of a conversation between CSU President Tony Frank and one of the groups I chair, the President’s Multicultural Student Advisory Committee (PMSAC).  The idea for this event came from a similar event Kansas State University hosted for similar reasons.

While the idea of putting on an event like this originated from that conversation between PMSAC and President Frank, the event was put on by more than just PMSAC. A large committee of people from across campus came together to create the event. I was fortunate enough to be able to serve on this committee.

I primarily served as a liaison between PMSAC and the planning committee. I provided input from the perspective of PMSAC. I also worked to help ensure the event was accessible to those with disabilities.

The event consisted of two parts: a march of solidarity and remarks from several speakers encouraging the CSU community to take a stance against hate and bias.

Event Media

Source Article: PMSAC empowers students to speak up for change

Source Article: CSunite brings campus together

Collegian: Thousands take to CSU campus in demonstration against hate, “bias-motivated incidents”

Reflection

The event was attended by more than 3000 people, which I felt was a great success. During the planning stages we were unsure how well attended it was going to be, and this number well surpasses our expectations.

As I reflect on this event I really wish I could have been more involved in the planning process. In the scope of things, I played a fairly small part. However, being part of the planning committee was a great experience for me because it allowed me to see how an event like this comes together. I got to see how all the different pieces (event design, security, publicity, etc.) all work together. In some of the graduate courses I’ve read about creating programs like this, but seeing it actually happen helped to deepen my knowledge and understanding creating large scale programs and events.

References

Shepherd, C. (2018). CSunite banner [Photo]. Retrieved from
https://collegian.com/2018/03/thousands-take-to-csu-campus-in-demonstration-against-hate-bias-motivated-incidents/