Exposing more similarities than differences is the goal of the REACH Across Dayton conference, according to Tess Little, coordinator of REACH.
REACH, which stands for Realizing Ethnic Awareness and Cultural Heritage Across Dayton, will their 24th conference at Sinclair.
“I started this program 24 years ago to help my and students and to understand that there are more similarities than differences and to acknowledge that there are differences, but to understand that if you have a foundation to work toward that you can, when those differences arise, solve those differences,” Little said.
According to Little, the conference aims to teach attendees about how to be connected within different ethnicities.
“In the spirit of connectedness and I think that we are all connected we just need to find the ways we are connected,” she said.
According to Little, people want to figure out their connections with other people which the conference hopes to discover.
“People need to be connected. People want to figure out what they have in common. They want to establish relationships.”
This year the conference expects to host around 400 people, 125 of them are expected to be Sinclair students. There will be community members and Sinclair faculty present as well.
“This is truly a diverse group of people who come to this. People who come from all different walks of life,” Little said.
According to Little, this is not a conference about diversity, but rather what people have in common with each other and how they can relate with that.
“It’s not a diversity conference, it’s a similarity conference. That’s what we’re looking at. We’re looking for is connections. It’s easy to talk about differences. You have to think a little harder and look for those similarities sometimes, not always. But it’s better to talk about those similarities.”
Sinclair professors will also be a part of the event, whether they are speaking, doing an art piece or a part of a panel.
“They participate every year. They love this; they come every year… There’s a whole team of people who work together to make this conference happen. They support this wholeheartedly,” Little said.
The conference will last the entire the day and the charge to attend is $50.
“It’s a fun, fun day. We have storytelling, all these things students can choose from to attend.”
The event will take place on Friday, February 24. It will feature guest speaker Dr. Beverly Rodgers, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois.
There will be several different panels and events for students to choose from that cover a variety of topics such as Latin American culture, a musical concert and storytelling and the African American Male Initiative.
Laina Yost
Managing Editor