Like-minded students and faculty members joined early Saturday morning to partake in the annual Social Justice Summit inside the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union.

Participants of the events were thrilled to attend to understand social justice issues, which not only include race but also LGBT, gender and mental health issues.

The opening of the summit gave participants an opportunity to realize their privileges and disadvantages compared to others, but two sessions regarding having conversations about race and the feminist movement gave new perspectives and encouraged new knowledge.

After a lunch break and intermission, topics of creating impact movements took center stage.

Students chose between two sessions to sit in on, one of which was the Sept. 29 movement, when students and faculty joined to protest and demand the name change of Catt Hall. The building is named after Carrie Chapman Catt, the first Iowa State female graduate and world-renowned advocate for women’s rights.

The other session focused on helping individuals learn how to be effective leaders and create an effective movement by understanding how something as simple as a bias can lead to something as powerful as a genocide.

Students who attended the summit found it to be beneficial as it shed a new light in their lives and on the Iowa State community.

“I see my passion growing through events like this,” Rachel Conn, senior in world languages and cultures, said.

She was influenced by people who were like-minded and wanted to see change.

“As a future educator, it can be enlightening to better understand my students and better serve them in the future,” Dalton Ernst, senior in elementary education, said.

Mia Mayland, senior in child, adult and family services, had several takeaways from the summit.

“I took away learning probably the recognition of my position within social justice, how I interact with people now, how to better gauge, not accepting the derogatory things people say and do,” Mayland said.

Adamarie Marquez, one of the coordinators for the event, believed this year’s summit exceeded expectations but said there is always room for improvement.

Marquez believes the event is beneficial because it provides needed conversations that generally wouldn’t take place in a classroom setting and sees them as relevant in our current society.

“Our biggest thing is working on building a community and creating an inclusive community for all,” Marquez said.