Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia at Gwinnett is sponsoring Diversity Awareness Week – or DAWG Days – beginning Feb. 14. The featured event of the week is a luncheon speech by Elizabeth Omalama, the daughter of the late civil rights activist Hosea Williams, on Thursday, Feb. 17, at noon in the atrium of building B on the Gwinnett University Center campus.
Omalama, who is chair of Hosea Williams’ Feed the Hungry program, will deliver a talk titled “Diversity as a Humanitarian Movement.” She will discuss the civil rights movement as a humanitarian effort where people of all races, genders and ethnicities came together to join the efforts of the movement. The speech is free and open to the public; lunch will be served on a first come first serve basis.
Other events for the week include:
* “Can You Hear Me?” Monday, Feb. 14, at 12:30 p.m., in the Student Life Center, building A – A simulated experience of some of the challenges of being hearing impaired; sponsored by UGA Ambassadors;
* “Sexism Today: Fact or Fiction?” Monday, Feb. 14, at 3 p.m., in A1500 – A free viewing of the ABC News “Prime Time Live” documentary on gender bias and its underlying causes; a discussion facilitated by Heather Adams for students, faculty and staff follows;
* “A Midnight At Noon” Tuesday, Feb. 15, at noon in the UGA Admissions and Career Counseling suite A1970 – Participants (students, faculty and staff) will experience how blind individuals eat lunch every day by eating while being blindfolded during a luncheon;
* “What’s African About African Americans?” Wednesday, Feb. 16, at 10 a.m. in A1640 – Kenyatta Bush, a graduate student in heritage preservation, will discuss the importance of African culture, history and philosophy in the development of African American culture by exploring Kongo culture and examining hip hop, material arts and dance to demonstrate the connection between Kongo and African American culture;
* “Study Abroad in Ghana, West Africa” Thursday, Feb. 17, at 4 p.m., in A1105 – Cheryl Dozier, assistant vice president for academic affairs at UGA at Gwinnett, will deliver a presentation to students, faculty and staff on the UGA multidisciplinary study abroad program in Ghana, illustrating some of the historical, social and cultural issues in this West African country and detailing some of the experiences and service learning projects of the program.
