The first Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity (ISCORE) won’t be held until March 3, but students need to act soon in order to save seats.

“Space is limited,” said Pamela Thomas, director of the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center and ISCORE organizer, adding that there’s room for 300 people.

The conference includes 17 different session choices and two nationally known speakers. It’s free to all ISU students, and there is a $10 fee for faculty and staff.

“This conference is primarily aimed at students. I would like to see a couple hundred students there or as many as we can get,” said Rafael Rodriguez, director of Minority Student Affairs.

ISCORE is a daylong conference at the Memorial Union lasting from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.

“In order to change the university community, it is important to have dialogue about race and ethnicity,” Thomas said.

The morning keynote speaker is George Henderson. He is the dean of the College of Liberal Studies and director of the Human Relations Advanced Studies Program at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla. He is the first black distinguished professor at the University of Oklahoma.

“We want to continue to promote multiculturalism in and out of the classroom,” Thomas said. “We want to develop and emphasize these types of issues in higher education.”

Following Henderson’s presentation will be several one-hour workshops hosted by ISU faculty, staff and students. The discussions will focus on a variety of issues ranging from “Harassment-Prevention Training” to “Sports and the Black Community.” Students will have four different presentation choices for each hour.

Fred Gray will be the afternoon keynote speaker. He was the first lawyer for civil rights activists Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. and has handled many significant civil rights cases in Alabama.

Gray served in the Alabama Legislature as president of the National Bar Association. Currently, he is the president of the board of the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center.

“Gray’s presentation is historical but can also be applied to modern debates of race and ethnicity,” Thomas said.

The idea to hold a race and ethnicity conference in Ames started two years ago when several ISU faculty members attended the annual National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE).

“We wanted to replicate something that is done nationally here,” Thomas said.

Last summer, both ISU faculty and students attended NCORE to get ideas for planning. Once the ISCORE proposal was approved by ISU President Martin Jischke, organizers started to decide on speakers and discussions.

“This conference is a part of President Martin Jischke’s agenda to support and promote diversity at Iowa State,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said Iowa State is the first university holding a conference similar to the national one. Many universities send students with faculty to the national conference.

“We want to provide students with information and ideas that were presented at the national conference regarding race and ethnicity,” he said.

Thomas said she hopes the conference on race and ethnicity will be a success.

“We want to provide accessible information for the entire community,” she said. “The goal of the conference is to promote diversity.”

Registration forms are available at the Office of Minority Student Affairs in 301 Beardshear Hall and should be returned by Friday.