Four days of events for the University of Wyoming’s annual Shepard Symposium on Social Justice start today with Bill Bowers’ solo play “Beyond Words” at 4 p.m. in the Union Ballroom and conclude Saturday with Gay Straight Alliance members from regional high schools hosting conversations with other students.
Symposium co-chairs Christi Boggs and Danielle Cover have brought in multiple speakers to fit this year’s theme of “Radical Listening.” The conference will include movie screenings, keynote speakers, collaborative communication sessions and more.
“I think it’s really important to have conversations around difficult topics,” said Boggs. “I think it’s important to provide space for people, to have the conversations to say things, to learn things, to hear things.”
The Symposium began in the 1997 by another name: Symposium for the Eradication of Social Inequality. Omowale Akintunde and Margaret Cooney started the program in the College of Education to better educate students in the teaching fields on how to communicate and understand their students and families with diverse backgrounds. The name changed to its Shepard Symposium on Social Justice in 2002 in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay UW student who was beaten and murdered near Laramie in 1998.
Communication is an important skill for students to learn, Boggs said, because when they go out to find jobs the world will not be centered on them. The world is becoming more diverse everyday, and being able to communicate and understand others with a different race, gender, economic background and other identities is important.
In addition to serving a purpose for participants, the Symposium also serves a larger purpose for Laramie and the state.
“When people think about Wyoming or they think about Laramie, they have a very particular negative context that comes to mind first,” said Cover, Boggs’ fellow co-chair. “The Symposium is important as a counterbalance to that idea that Wyoming is only an inhospitable place, or a place that doesn’t care for its young people.”
Cover said she wants to be able to reframe that ideology around Wyoming. She also is interested in making the Symposium not only a regional event, but also a national or international one.
As part of its programming the Symposium will offer interactive activities and sessions for students. New this year will be a quilt, made by Cover, where students can write and share messages. Returning activities include an interactive mural and t-shirt making for the Clothesline Project. There will also be an area where students will share posters they have made for the event.
Boggs and Cover encourage students to come to the free event, a safe place for students to learn and communicate with others without judgments.
“It’s where the cool kids hang out,” said Cover.
Lunch is provided, as well as accessibility assistance. The Symposium has worked with the Sustainability Club to provide a waste-free and sustainable environment for the event. Volunteers are welcome and will receive a free shirt and stickers.
Those with questions or accommodation needs can contact Boggs and Cover at shepardsymposium@uwyo.edu.
