With a new name and strategy, a made-over Race Day-called Race Perspectives this time around-returned to campus last Thursday and Friday for its first appearance since its highly-attended original in 1997.
Markedly different from the large speak-out in front of the Chapel in 1997, the event, part of Culture Week, offered over a dozen topics for discussion in small groups.
Race Perspectives coordinator junior Sean Young said he used smaller forums to create more intimate settings where students from a variety of backgrounds could speak honestly.
However, the less visible mini-meetings, led by a variety of campus groups, did not attract the same numbers as Race Day. Faced with only a handful of attendants, some discussion groups merged into larger groups, while others continued their discussions as planned.
Junior Michael Calvo attended the forum entitled "Minority Perspectives in IFC Fraternities." About six students joined him for the hour-and-a-half discussion Thursday evening, which Calvo said did not fully meet his expectations.
"I expected there to be a bigger turnout-unfortunately for everyone, there wasn't," Calvo said. "I was also expecting that a lot of people there would be full minorities, but the two minorities there were half minorities, like me.... It would have been nice to have more people there with different opinions."
At one forum-which combined discussions on race and social life, race and academic life and media representation of blacks-the diverse group addressed residential segregation on campus. Many students said they blamed the greek system for the situation.
Overall, Young found Race Perspectives to be "mildly successful" in attracting both a diverse group and a large number of students.
"Some of the forums' turnout was small, but at some of them, there were Caucasians-one of the groups we hoped to attract to get a varied perspective on the role of race on campus," Young said. "There is definitely room for improvement, but we saw a glimpse of the discussions we wanted to have."
Young attributed some of the poor attendance to competition with Friday's Springternational, which had been postponed a week due to rain.
He added that for the next Race Perspectives-which may or may not return next year-he will concentrate more on recruitment.
"If we do this again, I think we should make a more deliberate and direct effort to invite students who might not otherwise attend, to get a better cross-section," said Young, chair of the InterCommunity Council. "I might talk to ICC and get them to ask each of their organizations to require like 15 of their members to attend."
Although he was unsatisfied with attendance, Young emphasized the variety of choice during the event. He also considered the forum themes-which ranged from race and the Christian community to The Chronicle's coverage of minorities-effective and diverse.
Despite Race Perspectives' timely correlation with The Chronicle's March 19 publication of David Horowitz's advertisement opposing slavery reparations, the symposium had been scheduled since November, Young said.
"The controversy around the Horowitz ad gave the event a lot of legitimacy," Young said. "The ad caused a great deal of confusion for students who didn't know where they stood on the issue, and then Race Perspectives provided a safe place for talking about their opinions and ideas." Three students not affiliated with The Chronicle attended the forum.
Young said he hoped the forums would leave a legacy of dialogue on racial issues. "Regardless of whether there is one in the future, I hope there will be more discussions about these issues in the future," he said.
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