The University will present its first Diversity Dialogue on Thursday, March 29, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the Campus Center’s Multi-Purpose Room. The topic to be discussed is Coming to America: Who Should We Welcome? What Should We Do? All UMPI students, faculty, and staff are invited to participate in this campus event.
Hosted by UMPI’s Inclusion and Civility Task Force, this event is meant to encourage civil discourse by providing a forum to talk about an important national issue with facilitators who will help guide participants through the exercise. Participants will grapple with the issue of immigration, looking at it from three different perspectives and then debating all three sides. Organizers hope to gather together 100 students, faculty, and staff for this event. 
Since its creation, the Inclusion and Civility Task Force has worked to host campus conversations on topics that impact the student body and campus as a whole. The Task Force was established in Fall 2016 to focus on efforts connected with diversity, understanding, campus safety, and civil discourse.
The Diversity Dialogue is part of the 2nd annual Stand Together Week, which takes place Tuesday, March 27 to Thursday, March 29. In addition to attending the Diversity Dialogue event, the campus community is invited to Sign the Pledge created last year to reflect UMPI’s campus values. A six-foot-high version of the Pledge will be available at various times in the Campus Center and Folsom/Pullen Hall between March 27 and 29. For the full schedule, visit www.umpi.edu/owlstandbyyou.
For more information about this Diversity Dialogue, contact Gayla Shaw at (207) 768-9452 or email umpi@maine.edu. For more information about the work the Inclusion and Civility Task Force is doing on campus, or to learn more about Stand Together Week, please visit www.umpi.edu/owlstandbyyou.
