Steps for creating a campus where all people are valued and accepted were discussed at the Social Justice Summit held Friday and Saturday in the Memorial Union.

Approximately 40 to 50 students of varying races, ethnicities, genders, religions and sexual orientations attended the event. The Social Justice Summit was designed to raise awareness about differences found on Iowa State’s campus.

“Having the summit tends to be an opportunity for students who may have never heard about social justice and students and faculty and staff who have to engage in that conversation,” said Jowelle Benson, graduate student in educational leadership and policy studies.

The summit consisted of a series of activities to get the students involved in discussing issues regarding social justice. The leader of the summit was Kathy Obear, president of the Alliance for Change. Obear is originally from the East Coast and travels across the country giving presentations on social equality.

Obear described the event as a chance for students to “get grounded in what is social justice at Iowa State.”

Obear stressed during the event that everything discussed was to be kept confidential. This was to ensure that the environment of the seminar was comfortable and safe. The seminar is a place for students to share their personal anecdotes about social justice, and prejudices they may have held prior to attending the seminar.

Throughout the two days, Obear lead a series of activities for students to talk with one another and hear one another’s opinions.

In one of the activities planned, the group played a game of social justice bingo. Obear said “everyone is a winner” in social justice bingo. The goal of the game was to open up to one another, and become comfortable talking to other students about sensitive subjects. The game featured conversation starters set up on a bingo game board. Benson, who organized the event, said all the students involved were engaged and participated in these activities.

“I really felt a sense of community in the room,” said Christine Hall, senior in community and regional planning. “I met a lot of new people.”

Hall has attended the Social Justice Summit in years past and said she initially heard about it through an e-mail. She was drawn to the event because of her interest in community development and presentation.

Hall said one of her favorite activities at the summit was an activity where the participants drew cards with numbers on them. The higher the number, the more “worth” the participant and the more kind the person was treated.

Hall mentioned she was assigned a low number and people she knew just walked past her without saying anything as if she had no worth.

“It was an interesting social experiment,” Hall said.

Hall also shared a personal story at the summit about a prejudice she held against a group of people who belonged to a certain church. She later came to realize what she said regarding this church had hurt these people’s feelings.

“I think that I need to be more aware and conscious of what I say and try not to judge people,” Hall said.

The students at the event agreed it made them think about their actions toward one another on campus.