Campus Event Hopes to Stimulate Community Conversation on Race

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas’ Black Graduate Student’s Association is hosting a public forum “Tapestry: Courageous Conversations about Race” from 6:30-8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7 in Gearhart Hall Room 206. The free event is open, but registration is required.

The forum is based on a curriculum developed by Glenn E. Singleton and Curtis Linton to move people from their comfort zones to discuss various issues pertaining to race to help achieve equity in schools.

This event is called “Tapestry” based on the definition of the word – “a thick textile fabric formed by weaving colored weft threads.” The forum presents an opportunity for university students, faculty, staff and members of the surrounding community to have honest conversations about race. 

“Race is always a difficult conversation to have across ethnic lines, and Tapestry seeks to remove the veil,” said Joseph Daniels, president of the Black Graduate Student’s Association. “Conversation in no way solves our race problems, but it can begin to tear down walls of societal, institutional, and educational race injustices in our community.  Our goal is to get the City of Fayetteville talking about race in a manner that invites diversity and inclusion and therefore strengthens racial equity within our community.”

The U of A African American studies department, Associated Student Government Graduate Student Congress, Tyson Center for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace, City of Fayetteville Police Department, Compassion Fayetteville and Courage! Communications 4 Change, LLC are all partnering in the event.

Anyone interested in partnering with or supporting Tapestry, are invited to  contact Joseph Daniels, University of Arkansas BGSA President, jwdaniel@uark.edu.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.