Robert H. Smith School of Business students gathered Thursday to attend the annual Diversity Roundtable to discuss diversity and ways to advance diversity at Smith.
LaVern Chapman, the director of MBA planning and the event coordinator, has been trying to resurrect the Diversity Roundtable, which first began four years ago. The discussions brought together Smith undergraduate and graduate students, as well as working professionals at Smith and other companies. Everyone in attendance was eager to learn about and discuss diversity.
“I’m interested in seeing more diversity here at the Smith school,” said Olawumi Awosika, sophomore. “I’m interested in hearing what people have to say about the issue.”
Senior Kevin Chambers agreed.
“I think [diversity] is an element that we’re missing from the Smith school…we know these issues exist, but it’s not something that we talk about in the open,” he said.
People met in small groups throughout the evening to discuss different topics of diversity, including women in the workplace, ethnicity differences and LGBT acceptance. Everyone shared their different thoughts and opinions on various subjects, learning from each other’s experiences.
The evening culminated with a group discussion of how to help spread awareness of diversity at Smith. Chapman hopes to have more discussions about diversity in the future, and to promote respect of diversity at Smith in particular.
“I really want to see action,” she said, “I want to see something happen.”