WSU to Host Conversation on Race

OGDEN, Utah – This summer’s headlines from Louisiana to Minnesota to Dallas and back to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, illustrate a complex topic challenging our country — an issue that has left the nation feeling raw, hurt and distrustful.

Weber State University will host a town hall conversation about race, Saturday, July 30 at 1 p.m. in the Shepherd Union Ballroom. The event will feature panelists including WSU President Charles A. Wight along with elected officials, community leaders and representatives from local law enforcement.

“As a community, we have been following the shooting deaths of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana and the ensuing ambush on police during a peaceful protest in Texas, and we are deeply saddened, tired and angry,” said event coordinator Adrienne Gillespie Andrews, WSU’s chief diversity officer. “We wanted to host a larger dialogue on race and help create change in our community.”

Event organizers, including Reverend Monica Hall and WSU alumna and local business owner Alicia Washington, hope the event will provide a platform for discussion that will foster healing, understanding and inclusion within the Northern Utah community.

“Too often, our separate experiences create what seems like an unbridgeable gap of understanding within our communities,” Wight said. “While valid points emerge from multiple sides, we must ultimately come together to move toward a better world.”

The event is free to the public. Free campus parking will be available for the event.

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.

Author:

John Kowalewski, Marketing & Communications director
801-626-7212 • jkowalewski@weber.edu

Contact:

Adrienne Gillespie Andrews, Chief Diversity Officer
801-626-7243 • adrienneandrews@weber.edu