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Stephen F. Austin State University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs will kick off its annual Diversity Week Monday, April 3. The week will feature social and educational programs demonstrating the value of diversity and multiculturalism and creating meaningful dialogue in the SFA community.

The Diversity Week kickoff event will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Plaza and will feature a diversity canvas, where students are encouraged to help paint a mural showcasing SFA’s diversity.

“We hope the canvas helps create a sense of unity within the SFA community,” said Veronica Weaver, director of SFA’s OMA. “We invite students from all walks of life to participate because our diversity is our strength, and we hope this canvas will serve as a symbol to remind all of us that we are stronger together.”

OMA has several other events slated for Diversity Week.

OMA Peace Meal

OMA’s annual Peace Meal is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, at the Yellow House Christian Student Center, located at 201 East College St. OMA invites SFA students and faculty, staff and Nacogdoches community members to break bread with each other.

“The Peace Meal invites people to come together and discuss topics that concern us all,” said Dr. Griselda Flores, assistant director of OMA. “We hope the Peace Meal pulls the veil from how we view our everyday world and allows us to find where we connect. It is our hope that the dialogue continues after the meal.”

The OMA Peace Meal will feature guest speaker Hoan Do, a student success coach, author of “Succeeding in the Real World” and competitor on NBC’s hit show “American Ninja Warrior.” The International Examiner also recognized him as one of the best youth mentors in the nation.

This event is free and open to the public, but donations are welcome. Proceeds benefit the Romani Relief Project, which helps the Romani in Romania break the cycle of generational poverty.

Microaggressions Workshop

Cherry Steinwender, the executive director and co-founder of the Center for the Healing of Racism, co-author of the seminar “Dialogue: Racism” and author of “Bread is a Simple Food: Teaching Children about Cultures,” will lead OMA’s Microaggressions Workshop at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 5, in the student center’s Tiered Classroom.

Throughout the workshop, Steinwender will discuss and help define microaggressions: the casual, common and unintentional ways ethnic and religious minority groups, as well as the socioeconomically disadvantaged, are marginalized in societies around the globe.

“Microaggressions are difficult to understand and even more difficult to address,” Weaver said. “We hope this workshop will help people understand what microaggressions are and how they marginalize the people they affect. We also hope it will provide students and SFA community members the tools they need to eliminate microaggressions and learn how cultural differences enrich the fabric of the world.”

This event is free and open to the public.

Salsa Magic

To conclude Diversity Week, the OMA will present Salsa Magic at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 6, in the student center plaza.

OMA urges SFA students and faculty, staff and Nacogdoches community members to join them to listen and learn to dance to salsa, merengue, bachata, reggaeton and today’s hits.

Lee “El Gringuito” and Kat “La Gata,” an international dance duo specializing in the bachata, will lead Salsa Magic. They will be offering instruction and pointers as they teach participants the basics of Latin dance.

This event is free and open to the public. In the event of rain, Salsa Magic will be moved to the student center’s Regent’s Suite A.

For more information about these events or Diversity Week in general, visit OMA’s website at sfasu.edu/oma, or email OMA@sfasu.edu.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Department of History will present a public lecture featuring Dr. Eric Walther and Raymond “Ray” Hill at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 30, in Liberal Arts North, Room 102. The lecture is titled “LGBT History: Harvey Milk, Houston Gay Liberation and New Directions in the Movement.”

The lecture will cover the historical fight for LGBT equality in the United States with an emphasis on the movement in Texas.

Walther is a professor at the University of Houston and is currently working on a book concerning LGBT politics in Houston during the 1970s and 1980s. He also is currently working on a manuscript titled “Harvey Milk: The Public Face of Gay Rights Politics” for Routledge Press.

Hill is a well-known figure in the Texas gay liberation movement, life-long Texas resident, and alumnus of SFA, the University of Houston and Tulane University. He has been involved in human and LGBT rights movements since 1958, including authoring the nation’s first safe sex pamphlet in the wake of the AIDS epidemic during the 1980s.

Hill has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the 2001 Lifetime Achievement Award from The Unity Committee and the 2008 John P. McGovern award from the University of Texas School of Public Health, among numerous other awards.

SFA’s Department of History also will host two sessions Thursday for SFA faculty members and students to talk with Hill and Walther. The session for faculty members will be from noon to 1 p.m. with the student session following from 1 to 2 p.m. both in the Department of History’s conference room, located in LAN, Room 308.

For more information about the lecture or meeting times, contact Dr. Savannah Williamson, SFA visiting assistant professor, at williamssl50@sfasu.edu.

The Beta Phi cast of Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honor Society at Stephen F. Austin State University will host a playwriting workshop with SFA’s playwright-in-residence, Jack Heifner.

The workshop is scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 9, in Room 303 of the Griffith Fine Arts Building on the SFA campus. Cost is $20 for community members and $10 for students attending any college or university.

Led by Broadway playwright Heifner, the workshop is an introductory course designed for those who have little or no playwriting experience.

“Each year that we host this event, we have a wonderful turnout, including high school students, SFA faculty and students as well as members of the Nacogdoches community,” Heifner said. “If you are interested in playwriting, this is an introductory workshop with exercises to help you get over your fear of facing the blank page or blank computer screen.”

Organizers recommend not attending if you have taken Heifner’s playwriting course in the past. Participants should bring writing utensils and paper.

Seating is limited to 30, and payment will be taken at the door in cash or check form. Proceeds benefit Alpha Psi Omega scholarships. Participants should RSVP to apobetaphi@gmail.com to reserve a seat.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s SFA Gardens will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 13, in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, located at 2900 Raguet St. Steven Chamblee, director of Chandor Gardens in Weatherford, Texas, will present, “Great Garden Ideas.”

Chamblee has been active in horticulture for 40 years. He began developing his green thumb in the 1970s while transplanting trees with his father.

In 1986, Chamblee joined the Fort Worth Botanic Garden as a gardener and later worked as a greenhouse attendant. He enrolled in horticulture programs and earned an Associate of Applied Science at Tarrant County Junior College before completing a Bachelor of Science from Tarleton State University.

Chamblee continued his studies through a fellowship in the prestigious Longwood Graduate Program in Public Horticulture and earned a master’s degree in public horticulture administration from the University of Delaware. After graduate school, he worked as the native plant horticulturist for the Heard Natural Science Museum in McKinney then returned to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, where he later served as education director for four years.

Currently, Chamblee gives presentations across Texas and writes a monthly e-newsletter column entitled “Native Son.” He has authored dozens of magazine articles and the book, “The Story of Chandor Gardens.” He has a forthcoming book tentatively titled, “Mason’s Quest: Atonement for the Maya.”

The Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series is held the second Thursday of each month and includes a rare-plant raffle after the program. The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations to the Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series fund are always appreciated.

Parking is available at nearby Raguet Elementary School, located at 2428 Raguet St., with continual shuttle service to the Brundrett Conservation Education Building.

For more information, call (936) 468-4129 or email sfagardens@sfasu.edu.