GCU News Bureau
The Grand Canyon University campus seems to be on fire this year, with record attendance at Camp Elliott for Friday night’s Midnight Madness and packed crowds at Chapel and events such as the Diversity and Inclusion Department’s Project L, a Welcome Week icebreaker barbecue.
The Diversity and Inclusion Department and its Multicultural Office is banking on the same kind of excitement for Un1ty Week, a weeklong series of events beginning Monday that are designed to spread oneness and foster cultural inclusion.
The signature event of the series, Tuesday’s Un1ty Walk, is expected to include some 300 participants walking across campus, from the Technology Building courtyard to Antelope Gymnasium, to attend the weekly student worship service, The Gathering.
“The response we got was overwhelming,” said Diversity and Inclusion Department Director Donald Glenn of the interest in the Un1ty Walk, which will start at 6 p.m. and will feature students carrying flags from various countries to represent the diversity of students on campus. “We’re really looking forward to it.”
Glenn will be the guest speaker at The Gathering at 7 p.m. that evening.
He will speak about the side of us that really wants to be engaged in worship and another side where we’re like an old dog by the side of the fire that wants to just rest and be complacent.
“My message is going to be about staying ‘woke’ and not being tempted by things in the world that divide us,” said Glenn.
He will reference Matthew 18, which relays how Christians should handle disputes: to address the matter with the other person first, and if that doesn’t work to take the dispute to one or two witnesses to help with a resolution. If that still doesn’t work, then it's about taking the argument to the next level.
In the end, “The ultimate unifier is the cross,” Glenn said.
In addition to the walk and Glenn’s talk at The Gathering, the week of Un1ty events will include:
- FAMILY UNITED, 5-7 p.m. Monday, Canyon Lawn. The event, a collaboration with Campus Recreation, will be a backyard gathering complete with yard games, volleyball, food, a fire pit and s’more roasting.
- DIVERSITY OF MIND, 6-7 p.m. Wednesday, Sunset Auditorium. This educational event, organized with the Associated Students of GCU, will focus on the Diversity and Inclusion Department's theme for the year, Diversity Re-imagined. The talk will go beyond diversity of skin color or culture, he said, and will focus on diversity of the mind.
- UN1TY RUNWAY, 6-7 p.m. Thursday, the Quad. Look for a fashion show, food and GCBC. “It should be a treat. Students will be showing their cultural wear,” Glenn said, and some of their talents, too.
- UN1TY JOB FAIR, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday, Promenade, near the Student Union. Companies have asked GCU for help finding diverse job candidates, which inspired the department to work with Strategic Employer Initiatives & Internships to come up with a job and internship fair that focuses on diversity.
