Karla Rendon
Arts Editor
Inspirational quotes were written on the graffiti board such as ‘Every act of kindness is an act of peace – Suluoletautua,’ ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world – Gandhi’ and ‘Dream on, dreamers.’
Positivity and diversity were spread on campus during senior communications major Sumitra Sivalingam’s senior project April 24 in Sneaky Park.
“This event (brought) together individuals from an array of cultural backgrounds to engage in consciousness raising around respect and appreciation for the University community’s diverse student population,” Sivalingam said in her event’s Facebook event page.
“Peace, Unity and Harmony’ gave students the opportunity to express their thoughts on diversity through mosaic quilt making and painting on a graffiti board.
“It’s nice to have a space where we can express harmony, peace and unity because you don’t really have the opportunity to everyday,” Yelsse Bahena, sophomore international business major, said.
“It’s nice to have a noncritical form of expression. I’m not an artist at all but it’s nice to convey a message,” Andrew Rodriguez, sophomore physics major, said.
Sivalingam’s goal was to give the community a chance to articulate what diversity means to them and to remind visitors that we are all equal.
“I want people to know that everyone’s race, no matter who you are or where you come from, we come to a common ground and everyone is appreciated for who they are,” Sivalingam said.
“Peace, Unity and Harmony” was sponsored in collaboration with the Office of Multicultural Services, the Multicultural Club Council and Expression Through Art and Graffiti.
“I felt that a lot of people got to express themselves and I think it’s really important for the campus to have student expression because we don’t have enough people who stand up and talk,” Bryan Torres, senior anthropology major and coordinator of E-TAG, said.
“It has been one emotional, happy event. I want to thank my friends and ACB family, they gave me a lot of encouragement,” Sivalingam said.
Karla Rendon can be reached at karla.rendon@laverne.edu.
