Trying to understand one’s own identity is hard. Trying to understand the identities of others is an even bigger challenge.

Iowa State’s Multicultural Center in the Memorial Union filled up during the course of a half hour Friday night as students and faculty alike funneled into the room to learn not just about each other, but themselves.

The Social Justice Summit, now in its 16th year at Iowa State, is all about trying to open a dialogue about diversity and using that dialogue to keep people thinking about the issue in their normal lives.

“It’s about bringing students together to learn a little bit about themselves and others,” said Kevin Merrill, leadership and service coordinator for the Student Activities Center, who helped organize the event.

The summit was put on through a collaboration among numerous on-campus departments including the Multicultural Student Affairs Office, LGBTSS, the Sloss Center and the Department of Residence.

Friday’s events began with a meet and greet, followed by introductions. The attendees had dinner, after which they went through trans, genderqueer and queer definitions in an effort to learn more about the correct way to identify their peers.

Brock Leum, freshman in construction engineering, said he hoped the event would help him learn about how people differ from himself and his upbringing.

“[The summit] is a way to open my eyes to things I haven’t seen before,” said Leum, a native of Westby, Wis.

Leum added that the week before the summit he had listened to a transgender speaker in his residence hall and said the experience helped show him the different lives people come from. It also was a good way to open the dialogue on the issues surrounding the trans community, Leum said.

“[It’s about] how to have the conversations about diversity in a respectful way,” said senior in history Sarah Tank, whose goal is to work in student affairs after college.

Tank learned about the summit from the Student Activities Center and knew then that she wanted to join the conversation.

Kelsey Grote, graduate student in education, checked people in Friday night.

“Social justice means something different to everyone,” she said, helping an attendee get set up with a name tag and folder.

Grote said the summit was for people of all levels and understanding and is, at its heart, about starting the conversation about different social issues.

The summit is a little different each year, and when organizers are planning they take the current climate of the world into consideration, said Nancy Camarillo, retention coordinator in the Multicultural Student Affairs Office.

This year, definitions were of high importance, Camarillo said, hence the activity the summit had planned for after dinner.

“The summit is about starting a conversation of understanding one another,” Camarillo said, echoing the sentiment of her fellow organizers.

The rest of the night was packed with activities and speakers including a discussion on current events that tie into social justice issues.

Saturday included a retreat to Boone, Iowa, where a discussion took place on what a socially just Iowa State would look like.

“It’s invigoration to see students who care about the experience they’re having,” Merrill said, adding that he was highly impressed with the number of students who were willing to give up a Friday night and most of a Saturday to learn more about themselves and their peers.

At the end of the day, the summit was all about education and starting a discussion, Merrill said.

“It’s about bringing students together to learn a little bit about themselves and others,” Merrill said.

Merrill said he hopes the summit not only starts the dialogue but also prompts it to continue and gets students to start talking about ways to make Iowa State more socially just.