Iowa State students were given an opportunity to share their opinions about racism Thursday at the Ames/ISU YWCA and Baha’i Student Association’s “National Day of Commitment to Eliminate Racism,” which was held in the lower level of the Memorial Union.

Judy Dolphin, director of the YWCA, said the event was started last year on the national level to help make people aware of the need to stop racism in today’s society.

“It’s for each one of us to make a commitment to do something to stop racism within ourselves, to appreciate people for the fact that they’re human beings,” she said.

Dolphin said this year’s booth was put together by the YWCA’s Board of Directors. It was designed to give students a chance to express their ideas and opinions about the issue by filling out slips of paper, which were posted in the booth.

Students also could pick up stickers and bookmarks about racism, and they received a chocolate treat from YWCA employees for stopping.

Ingrid Roseborough, who works for YWCA, said putting the booth together was not difficult.

“All through the year, we do lots of stuff to eliminate racism; it is something we do every day,” said Roseborough, senior in biology.

Dolphin said the response to the booth has been positive.

“We’ve gotten some interesting looks, but what students have been writing has been very insightful, very powerful,” she said. “The sheer number of people who have stopped by and participated — I’ve been pleasantly surprised.”

Roseborough said she also enjoyed the comments from the people who stopped by the booth.

“Seeing these statements makes a pretty strong impact,” she said.

Dolphin said she hopes the booth made people participating realize some things about themselves.

“My hope is that people will recognize prejudice they may have,” she said.

Dolphin said she hopes to put students’ comments from this year’s booth on the YWCA Web site at www.public.iastate.edu/~stu_org/ywca.