The 3rd annual Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity celebrated diversity and encouraged acceptance of every culture and nationality.

Students and faculty members assembled in the Memorial Union Friday to hear an assortment of guests speak, interact and share their knowledge of diversity issues.

Attendees gathered in the Sun Room Friday morning for the opening speech by George Jackson, assistant dean of the Graduate College.

Then they dispersed into various rooms in the Union, where more than 30 activities and lectures were offered throughout the day.

Addressing topics such as stereotypes, perspectives and cultural myths, these sessions were one to two hours long and featured a wide array of speakers.

Carlie Tartakov, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, led the session on Dialogues on Diversity, a program for raising awareness and respect for diversity at Iowa State.

Along with seven others, Tartakov spoke on the purpose of the course, as well as several aspects and benefits of the program.

“With this program, we have been creating a climate that encourages respect of diversity for the students,” Tartakov said.

The course has several objectives, including providing warm relationships between people of diverse backgrounds and engaging in dialogue and open-ended discussions about diversity-related issues, she said.

Guisela Chupina, graduate student in educational leadership and policy studies, said the program is always changing.

“We just want everyone to be able to open their minds,” Chupina said.

“Our goal is to enhance awareness, understanding, and to take an interactive approach to diversity learning.”

This goal was also evident in a lecture by Dominick Fazarro, assistant coordinator of the Carver Academy, and Lenola Allen-Sommerville, adjunct assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, who together led a presentation on diversity in learning styles.

The session covered several methods of learning as found in a survey of black students at Iowa State and North Carolina A&T State University, Fazarro said.

“It is extremely important to understand that every student will have a unique learning style, and identify how each student will learn and process information best so that they will benefit most,” Allen-Sommerville said.

Vicky Lio, junior in pre-journalism and mass communication, introduced ISCORE speakers.

Lio got involved with the program through its more expansive equivalent, the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity.

“I think students are here to learn and participate in an experience they may not be able to get in a classroom,” Lio said.

“They can get a chance to meet a lot of different people with diverse backgrounds and can therefore expand and broaden their horizons.”