Contest encourages Bryant community to define diversity

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to submit music, poetry, or other creative art for the 3rd Annual Diversity Contest.

Last year, Lauren Gainor ’10 (Cumberland, RI) used a poster board cut into the shape of a G-clef to explain diversity. The poster included a venerable Who’s Who of musicians – from Elvis to Alicia Keys to Kiss – to represent the wide variety of music genres.

“You can’t have harmony if everyone sings the same note,” she wrote. “Diversity is the key.”

This was just one of the imaginative ways that members of the Bryant community defined diversity during last year’s Diversity Contest, in which Gainor captured second place. Participants also used poetry, essays, spoken word, music videos, and other creative work. Read a recap of last year's Diversity Contest.

Bryant students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to come up with their own way to explain diversity as part of the Third Annual Diversity Contest that will take place on Wednesday, April 1. Those interested should submit an entry form to the Office of Admission by Monday, March 23; all creative works are due by Monday, March 30. The contest, which is sponsored by the Diversity Council of Champions, will award prizes of $1,000, $500, $250, and $100.

Gainor, who plans to participate again this year, says programs like this help continue an important dialogue on campus.

“I think that sometimes we forget that diversity is not always described by a person’s race or nationality,” she says. “It is in our friends, the music we listen to, and the things we surround ourselves with. These are just some of the ways in which Bryant grasps the concept of diversity.”

Opening minds

Sam Schultz ’09 (Holliston, MA), a member of the Diversity Council of Champions and past president of Bryant Pride, says this event challenges each person in the Bryant community to examine what diversity means to them and why it is important.

“We live in a very interconnected world, and it is important that we take these connections seriously as we work to make the world a better place,” says Schultz.

The program is also a microcosm of the strides that occurred – including the election of the first African American President – to raise awareness of and an appreciation of all cultures.

“Diversity was once used as a means of separation,” says Schultz, “but today people are beginning to understand the power this idea has to unite people and make us all stronger.”

Appreciating differences

Renee Gadsden ’08, former president of the Multicultural Student Union, and a current Bryant admission representative, says a commitment to diversity is part of Bryant’s mission of instilling a sense of character in all students.

“Diversity is more than the percentage of multicultural students on campus or the ratio of males to females,” says Gadsden. “Having a contest like this allows students to think creatively and open their minds to new possibilities.”

Like Gainor’s harmonious song analogy, Ami Shah ’12 (Lincoln, RI), a member of the Diversity Council of Champions, says an initiative like this helps people appreciate what makes their cultures unique.

“I define diversity as differences coming together, not to mold into one thought or concept but to coexist and embrace each others’ differences,” says Shah. “I hope students look at these events as opportunities for personal growth that they can use to better understand the world around them."