About 60 students gathered to watch a videoconference broadcast at colleges across the country that centered around "isms" on campuses and the ways change can be made toward more diversity.
The conference featured Ronald Takaki, University of California at Berkeley professor and author of the book "A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America."
Takaki talked about the need for diversity requirements for graduation in university curricula and making diversity an "intellectual project."
Prof. Michael Dyson, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of "Between God and Gangsta Rap: Bearing Witness to Black Culture," were also on the panel.
Dyson said "isms," such as racism and sexism, put one group in a position of power over others.
"They are about power and they are about privilege given to difference," Dyson said.
The videoconference panel also included two student activists. Mindy Michels from American University and Jose Palafox from Berkeley related experiences they had at their universities to the discussion on diversity.
Palafox was part of protests at Berkeley against Proposition 209, which eliminated affirmative action at public institutions last week.
"I think of my three younger sisters and what messages this sends to them in terms of equality," Palafox said.
The panelists defined diversity as a recognition of "differences" between all people on campus. They said diversity has advantages and disadvantages. "It invites us to acknowledge and to accept difference," Takaki said.
But Takaki said a "down side" was that people tend to be "reduced" to their difference.
"I am Asian American, but that's not all I am," Takaki said.
University of Michigan students at the showing in the Kellogg Auditorium at the School of Dentistry said they were impressed by the panelists and their grasp of the issue.
"I liked that Dr. Dyson and Dr. Takaki provided the more global vision that really is a part of diversity," said Education doctoral student Michael Dumas.
The conference, titled, "Diversity - The Way Things Are... The Way Things Can Be," broke its discussion halfway through to allow university groups across the nation to hold local discussions.
Students divided into groups led by facilitators to react to the conference and talk with each other about diversity at the University. The discussions began with exercises to get students to open up about their views.
Students said the local discussion made them think about diverse views.
"When you talk about it, you relate to how other people think and you stretch yourself," Nursing junior Amy Stewart said. "We have so many things in common - we all want to be respected."
The videoconference continued with panel discussions on how to promote more diverse campuses across the country. They said a continuance of education about different cultures would further understanding of diversity at universities. The student panelists said a need exists for more student activism.
Facilitators said they were pleased with the conference though the attendance was smaller than expected.
"Quality is more important than quantity," said Jeff Howard, director of the Office of Community Service Learning. "The quality of the teleconference and the quality of discussion was really high caliber."