Paul Hedeen leads an exercise on diversity.
Diverse lives mean diverse advantages and opportunities.
This was a point brought out by students, faculty, and community members during Wednesday’s diversity journey exercise facilitated by Dean of Humanities/Social Sciences, Paul Hedeen in the H Building’s gymnasium.
Hedeen began The Privilege Walk by having participants stand next to one another in a straight line. He then read a series of statements, finishing each one by instructing participants to step backwards or forwards based on their answers.
"If you were raised in a two parent household, step forward," he said at one point.
"If you were ever stopped or questioned by the police because of your race or ethnicity, step backward," he said later.
In the end, everyone was in different places throughout the gym.
Hedeen then handed out a list of questions to get a discussion started and people shared their thoughts and experiences.
The event followed a unity march led by Dr. Kojo Quartey. Both are part of MCCC's ongoing Diversity Week.
"I think it's very important," student Tristan Rogaczewski said. "A lot of people are not educated and I believe that this exercise will educate a lot of people on opportunity."
