Providence, R.I.--The Providence College Balfour Center for Multicultural Affairs will sponsor a series of events focusing on diversity during Unity Week from March 30 to April 4.

Dr. Edward Twyman, dean of multicultural affairs, said the purpose of Unity Week is to highlight the diversity of the College community and "strengthen bonds between the College and the local and global community."

"I was inspired to bring people from many different backgrounds, who make up both the College and wider community, to celebrate the fact that we are all similar, yet different," Twyman said. "It's really about trying to create ways for us to be together as a community and demonstrate a commitment to diversity."

The schedule for Unity Week is:

March 30

• At 5:00 p.m., students are invited to create their own T-shirt that either promotes hope or denounces racism in Slavin Center '64 Hall. Additionally, there will be an ethnic food festival in '64 Hall.

March 31

• McPhail's in the Slavin Center will host two events, beginning with a 4:30 p.m. screening of the 2005 Oscar-winning movie, Crash. The screening will be followed by a group discussion on the issues addressed in the movie. At 7:00 p.m., several young performance poets known as the Brave New Voices All Stars will present some of their nationally-renowned work.

April 1

• Two film screenings will take place in the Office of Academic Services (OAS) Classroom (Room 223 of Phillips Memorial Library). Shattering the Silences, a 1997 PBS documentary that focuses on the values of a diverse faculty in higher education, will be shown at 3:00 p.m., and I Have A Dream, a study of American racial progression since Dr. Martin Luther King's famed speech, will air at 4:30 p.m.

April 2

• The film Skin Deep will be screened at noon in the OAS Classroom followed by a discussion. From 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., a student-led panel discussion on American racial segregation will be conducted in Moore Hall I.

April 3

• A wine-and-cheese reception open to all faculty and staff members age 21 or older will take place in the President's and Faculty/Staff Dining Rooms in Alumni Hall at 4:30 p.m.

April 4

• The Ryan Concert Hall in the Smith Center for the Arts will host an internationally diverse concert featuring Braddigan, a group of American, Brazilian, and Puerto Rican musicians, at 10:00 p.m.

For the duration of the week, a display case on diversity will be exhibited in Phillips Memorial Library, and a campus-wide shoe drive will be conducted to benefit a local domestic violence charity.

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