Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez addressed students and faculty at a convocation Monday afternoon about building community on campus.

The purpose of the convocation was to talk about the way open dialogue can prevent tragic events from happening on campus and in the community.

About 200 people filed into the University Union ballroom to hear the president and keynote speaker, Helen Zia. Zia is a social activist and author of the book “Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People.” The speech topics ranged from cyber bullying to how Americans today may belong to several sub groups of society.

“The way that dialogue has to begin is by bringing people together in a place where they can have an honest exchange and where that exchange is encouraged,” Zia said.

She said being able to conduct open debate within a person’s sphere of influence is important in the higher education community.

Faculty Senate approached Gonzalez to convene the convocation due to events that happened at other colleges around the nation, as well as the homicide that occurred at Sac State in 2009.

“It is a cornerstone of what we would like the university to become in the future. I believe the incidences that we have heard and read about, the murder that occurred here last (academic) year, all such events point to the fact that there is a lot of stress and discontent with current events as they are,” Gonzalez said.

In addition to the main session, audience members were encouraged to attend one of eight “breakout” discussion sessions in conference rooms. At these sessions, groups discussed a wide range of topics including how to increase access to instructors and how to foster better campus morale through social programs.

Katrina Anderson, a sixth-year social work undergraduate, considered the sessions as a way for the campus to exchange ideas rather than an attempt to change.

“I feel that people within the college have an idea of fostering diversity but there is another side within the college that doesn’t want to foster it. When viewpoints differ and ideological stances oppose one another, then those minds remain closed,” Anderson said.

The Faculty Senate committee announced that ideas from the discussion sessions will be passed on to President Gonzalez to create plans for fostering better communication within the university.

Janet Hecsh, Faculty Senate member and associate professor in the Teacher Education Department, considered the convocation to be a good start in the direction of open communication.

“I hoped there would be a model for how we might proceed as we work toward developing a caring, scholarly and civil community here at Sacramento State. I feel as a first step, that it went really well,” Hecsh said. “Individuals were able to get to know each other a little bit, across faculty, staff and student lines. When people come together to discuss their experiences, their emotions ignite and drive them to want to see change and this is a great part about this event today.”

Matt Harrington can be reached at [email protected]