Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow
With the Union Jack-embellished, royal blue flag of New Zealand draped around his shoulders like a shawl, a hyped-up Kevin Reddell donned just a few of the bright colors that blanketed the Grand Canyon University field called the Backyard on Tuesday night.
The royal blue joined the green, red and white of the Mexican flag.
The red, white and blue of the American flag.
And the red, black and yellow of the German flag, among others.
They all lent their colors to the Multicultural Office’s Unity Walk, the signature event of the office’s Unity Week celebration.
About 250 students, many of them carrying the flags of various nations, and many of them representing various student groups, gathered at the field for the 30-plus minute walk that weaved down Lopes Way and past the Grove before ending at its final destination at Antelope Gymnasium, just in time for the Gathering.
The GCU Thundering Heard Pep Band Drumline kept the beat, not far behind those at the front of the line carrying the One Hope Banner, which was signed by students Monday on the Promenade.
A celebratory “Chee-Hoo!!!” erupted from one student from Hawaii who got caught up in the walk while walking with her friends to get dinner. They, too, joined in the celebration for a time.
The Unity Walk, said Multicultural Specialist and GCU graduate student Kaila Hammonds, is a way of “just bringing all different cultures together and all different countries and backgrounds – just being able to walk in unity and support one another,” she said. “It’s based on love, connection, bond and fun. It's to have a moment to have fun and be free.”
It was also a time for students to express their support for Israel. Many students carried Israeli flags, and Associated Students of GCU President Jagaar Halverson remembered Israel in the prayer before the walk. We pray “for the civilians that are lost," he said, "and we pray for peace for everyone.”
Reddell, a sophomore film major and member of the GCU Flight Crew, carried the New Zealand flag because his father was born there and he has dual citizenship.
“It’s so beautiful there. I visited a few times,” said Reddell, who joined the Unity Walk with the rest of the Flight Crew.
It was his first time to make the trek through campus as part of the Unity Walk.
“I love all the flags and all the countries. I think it’s so cool, especially when you meet new people from these countries and see the diversity (on campus). I’ve met a few people from Papua, New Guinea. I’ve made some friends that were born in Nigeria. There are some people in my classes that are from Russia.”
Gabrielle Walker, a sophomore legal studies major, waved the South Korean flag, but unlike Reddell, she doesn’t have direct ties to South Korea.
“I just deeply resonate with the culture,” she said with a smile.
She was one of about 60 members of ASGCU and the Freshmen Class Council to walk with the varied campus groups as part of the Unity Walk.
It was her second year to participate.
“I like this event because it shows awareness of all the different people, and all the makes and models that we have at GCU. It really is about unity. We all have different backgrounds, but we’re all coming together to express our love for our countries and for each other.”
Fellow ASGCU member Jeremy Fuentes, a junior psychology major, is a busy bee who’s not only part of student government but runs a club and is a student worker.
“Being able to just see the amount of diversity between all the groups I’m a part of … everybody brings something different to the table,” he said. “The Unity Walk is exciting for me because I get to see and hang out with all the other groups that I didn’t get to be a part of. It really does encapture the fact that we are one community.”
Rosalie Messi lined up with the University’s ROTC cadets, the first group behind the One Hope Banner. The cadets carried the American flag.
The event, she said, makes her want to learn more about other cultures, “and it gets us to see how much we’re all a unit and how God has brought us all together in this beautiful place.”
The Unity Walk is just one of the events spanning Unity Week.
Tonight, the Multicultural Office will host at art pop-up from 6-8 p.m. on the north turf of the Student Advising Services Building, followed by a fashion show from 6-8 p.m. Thursday on the Quad in which students will display the native dress of their respective countries and will perform.
Following Unity Week, the Multicultural Office this fall will host or co-host a slew of other events, from the Native American Heritage Celebration Nov. 2 to International Student Appreciation Week Nov. 13-16, and the Taste of the World events to sample cuisine from around the world on the second Monday of the month.
Hammonds said the Unity Walk brings home the overarching message of the Multicultural Office, which is that GCU is made up of many different groups that come together as one community.
“It’s not just one group over the next group,” she said. “It’s all of us as a unit, as a people,” and added that the Multicultural Office offers a welcoming space for everyone at its Multicultural Lounge in Kaibab. It is that refuge on campus where students can learn about different cultures and make those connections.
“It’s also about being who you are, stepping in with what you have and knowing that that’s enough.”
GCU Manager of Internal Communications Lana Sweeten-Shults can be reached at [email protected] or at 602-639-7901.
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