“Attack ideas, not people” was a common expression reiterated by organizers of Monday night’s “Speak Your Peace” event hosted by the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
Students entered the University Student Union ballrooms at Cal State Long Beach around 5 p.m., where they were provided with food and refreshments before diving into discussions about Islamophobia, immigration, transphobia and activism.
The attendees were engrossed in roundtable conversations, which were each led by a topic facilitator.
Staff members were also in attendance, including communication studies professor James Sauceda and director of the University Art Museum, Kimberli Meyer.
This was the second “Speak Your Peace” event hosted by OMA in association with Beach Pride and the Student Orientation, Advising and Registration department, according to the Assistant Director of Multicultural Affairs, Jon Higgins.
“The theme, which is ‘A Nation Divided: Conversation on Restoration,’ is about how can we, as a campus, respond conducively [sic] to a lot of the issues we’re seeing happening around us,” Higgins said.
Each roundtable set up in the ballrooms had a number, which was related to a specific topic, such as “Beyond the Women’s March,” “The Fear of Islam,” and “Build the Wall… ?”
“It sounded really cool. I’m interested in social justice issues, and I want to become more involved,” said third-year chemistry major Yasmin Elasmar about her decision to attend the event.
Elasmar is a member of the Muslim Student Association on campus. She attended the first “Speak Your Peace” gathering last fall but had arrived late and didn’t get a chance to engage in the discourse.
This time, Elasmar arrived early and sat at “The Fear of Islam,” table where she and other students attempted to define Islamophobia and ways to combat against it.
“For the most part, it’s very similar [to the first event], as in the structure of it; Being able to sit at a table that has a specific topic you can talk about,” said junior English major Kaila-Marie Hardaway.
Hardaway served on the committee in charge of coordinating and promoting the affair.
“I think the mission behind the event, to give students a voice about certain topics, is really important. I definitely wanted to be a part of bringing that to campus,” she said.
