Suggested Headline: Students paint the campus with a differentcolor or Students unite to support diversity
A wave of red flooded the campus Friday in support of StudentGovernment’s Diversity Awareness Team’s “Paint the Campus Red”campaign to promote diversity on campus.
The campaign was the idea of DAT co-directors Victoria Williams,a secondary education senior, and Crawford Leavoy, a politicalscience and political communication sophomore. Leavoy said the ideais an altered version of the Human Rights Campaign’s “RainbowWeek.”
“Rainbow Week was an idea from the HRC Web site in which everyday we would encourage students to wear a different color of therainbow,” Leavoy said. “We did not want to single out anyminorities in our campaign, but red is a significant color becauseit symbolizes AIDS awareness and it is a noticeable color.”
Leavoy said DAT began the initiative to help unify minorities oncampus. He said minorities will not make a difference or change oncampus unless they come together and help one another.
“On this campus there are many different minorities that do nottalk to one another,” Leavoy said. “In history minorities havepaired up with each other to make a change.”
Leavoy said on campus, students look at each minorityseparately, not as one minority unifying.
“When minorities come together others can see that everyone’sdifferent, everyone’s a minority in some way, and you do not haveto close the diversity climate alone,” Leavoy said.
Students of all races, sexes and orientations proudly sportedred in their apparel to help promote DAT’s unified diversitymessage.
“Diversity is a major issue at LSU,” David Robbins, anadvertising sophomore, said. “LSU promotes itself as being a’diverse’ campus, which it is. The University is doing well toreach out to diversity, but there are many areas that need toimprove.”
Some students said the campaign is helping people open up theireyes.
“This helps spread diversity and show we are people and there isa culture,” said Dustin LeBoeuf, an interior design junior. “It isa process that takes a long time and will take time to change.There may be fluctuations in the change, but over time it willsucceed.”
Leavoy said he and the members of DAT are happy with the turnoutand hope this is the first step on the road to change.
“This campus has to unify to change,” Leavoy said. “We haven’tbeen doing it and this is the start. This is not the last time weare unifying and we are kicking it into gear.”