March 12, 2014

By Alexandria Zamecnik

Being the catalyst for change, showing events happening around the world and creating a tolerant society were the goals of the Warhawk Connection Center when it showed the movie, “Journey to a Hate Free Millennium.”

The documentary about the exploration of hate crimes in America, “Journey to a Hate Free Millennium” looks at the Columbine shootings, the murder of Matthew Shepard and other crimes.

After the audience members watched the documentary, they were asked to place cards on their foreheads and interact with other members of the audience. Each person did not know what his or her own card said.

Some of the cards said, “a person diagnosed with AIDS,” “a mother who has committed child abuse” and “a person who is in a gang.”

The audience members were expected to treat each other accordingly to the person’s card.

Shavaughn Lawson, the intern in charge of planning the award-winning presentation, said she chose this event because it is appealing to more students.

“Not only do you get shown a movie, but you get the audience to interact with one another,” Lawson said.

Lawson said she wants students to take away that they can be the change they hope to see in the world.

“As a society, our tolerance levels are kind of low,” Lawson said. “We aren’t very happy to accept things. We need to up our tolerance levels.”

David Shears, a student at UW-Whitewater, said he went to one diversity event for an economics class and was pulled back to the other events.

“I’ve actually been learning a lot,” Shears said. “I want to hear other people’s stories and see other people’s point of views.”

After viewing the presentation and listening to others’ reactions, Shears said it helped him understand the true meaning and impact that diversity week had.

“I learned about myself and how it feels when I live by believing stereotypes and it made me want to change,” Shears said.