People told stories of how their identity has affected their life at ThisIsUSC Friday in Russell House theater. The event was put on by the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs to close out diversity week.
Charles Frazier and Karra McCray designed the event with the intention of highlighting diversity and inclusivity within the University of South Carolina through storytelling.
“When people talk about diversity, they think solely about race and ethnicity without realizing that religious diversity is a thing. Not only that, ability and disability is also a part of diversity,” said McCray, the assistant faculty principle at the International House at Maxcy College.
Haleema Adly, a first-year Muslim nursing student, discussed her religious beliefs during her speech and said her sophomore year in high school completely changed her life. She had not attended public school in approximately three years, spending that time homeschooled. Her mother put her back into public school at the beginning of tenth grade, and immediately Adly felt that her personality was overlooked by her religion.
She said she wanted her peers to know her for her heart and character. She delivered a poem at a poetry open mic the same year, discussing her challenges as a Muslim American woman. She ssaid she received a glorious response to her work, and the aftermath prompted her to be proud of who she was and what she stood for as a Muslim.
“People need to ask questions, and people need to answer questions," Adly said. "The world is going to become better, more understanding, more welcoming, when we start asking and answering questions.”
In addition to students speaking in the event, professors and USC faculty members also came to the stage to deliver their stories. Nancy Tolson, assistant director of the African American Studies program, discussed the challenges she has faced as an African American woman in the South. She implored the audience not to judge based off the cover of a book.
"My mission is to make sure that everybody knows about the black experience," Tolson said. "All students, not just black students."
Frazier, assistant director for cultural programming in the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs and director of ThisIsUSC, came up with the idea for ThisIsUSC.
“We want the audience to learn from each story that they hear during the event," Frazier said in an email. "We also want this event to serve as an example of the type of discourse that can advance the mission of diversity and inclusion at UofSC.”