Today, the big theme was brainstorming specific projects our delegations could focus on. These could be events to promote awareness of an issue, or just the local Better Together group itself, it could be a service project, field trip kinds of experiences. Also, we discussed what were the best ways to advertise and get the word out to the community. We deduced that the crazier the stunt, or the catchier the poster/flyer ad, the better response you would get. So, dress all campus statues in Better Together t-shirts and apparel to gain attention-- t-shirts that you stenciled yourself at your hands-on/crafty interfaith event! Always provide pizza! Make a silly video about your campaign! Put flyers of useful information in the bathrooms! And most importantly, use social media. Facebook and Tweet it up big time with quotes from interfaith leaders in history, or statistics about the issue that you're focusing on, like homelessness, hunger, immigration/refugees, or environmental stewardship. This was a really great time for our group, because our creative juices were really flowing. And also, we did something called asset mapping. This was basically a flow chart of all of the support we have on campus, be it from faculty and administration, student groups, outside community, and even who let's us rent a room for events. We realized that we have tons of people at Concordia who've got our backs!
Other things that happened today was that we could attend a service to celebrate the Jewish tradition of Shabbat, and a Muslim call to prayer. I went to both, and it was one of those goose-bump inducing experiences.
Our Dorothy Day group is pretty awesome, I'd say. Yesterday, our delegations were all at different tables, but today, we tried to see how many people could fit around one table, and when we realized, "Oh, awkward, there's 8 people who won't fit," we jumped to action and brought our tables together, to the surprise of the IFYC staff who were leading our session. I'd have to say, our enthusiasm and humor has been making this such an awesome group to be in. (And thanks to one delegation, the phrase of the day has been, "Dorothy Day FTW!")
What I'm loving about this conference is that I have always been interested in diversity but because of where I live, I was always reading about those things instead of experiencing it first-hand. Most of the people that I encounter in my life are white Christian Lutherans--it's a kind of sad fact. Here, I'm meeting people who are Sikh, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, Agnostic and Athiest, and not only are we bonding over deep stuff like our beliefs, but also through the goofy random flow of conversation that tends to happen between 9pm and Midnight when a lot of candy has been consumed and someone has a deck of Uno cards.
It's a goal of ours to make our school a more welcoming place for that type of relationship-building. And I think our school's ready for it.
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