As part of the university’s effort to establish this year as the Year of Unity, two Sacramento State professors will address the issue of diversity on Tuesday in a program entitled, “Learning Through Differences and Joining Through Commonalties: A Forum On Diversity at CSUS.”

Dr. Jose Guadeloupe and Dr. Santos Torres will head up the program sponsored by the College of Health and Human Services. It will be the first of two campus diversity forums promoting and positively contributing to the issue of diversity. The session will be divided into two parts. A panel of speakers comprised of student, staff, faculty, and community members, will share their backgrounds, experiences and perspectives on the complexity of diversity. The panel will be followed by small group discussions that give everyone who attends an opportunity to engage in exploring the possibility of unity.

“Human diversity is a complex set of interrelated issues, and requires constant exploration and reexamination as social and cultural changes emerge within our society and our communities,” Guadeloupe and Torres stated in a proposal for the utilization of the Year of Unity.

This forum brings people together to talk and learn about their differences.

“This is not a new dialogue, but an old dialogue,” Torres said. “Our goal is not to be experts. We are saying when people talk about this issue it is better than not talking about it.”

Developing an environment on campus that celebrates diversity and working toward unity is one of the goals of the forum.

“This forum is not so much to solve but assist the process,” Guadeloupe said. “Awareness does not guarantee change, but it is an important ingredient to promote change.”

To promote “Learning Through Differences and Joining Through Commonalties,” Torres and Guadeloupe use the Chinese symbol “crisis,” which is composed of two characters meaning danger and opportunity.

“This symbol represents the different views that people hold,” Torres said. “There are so many issues and diversity. To some it is danger, and to others, it is an opportunity. The forum sees it as an opportunity.”

Torres and Guadeloupe invite students to be a part of this important event working toward unity in our community. The presentation will take place Tuesday from 1 to 4 p.m. in the University Union Redwood Room.