by Krista Pino
Daily Lobo
UNM's new student orientation program attempts to teach students how to break through the wall of prejudice.
During Lobo Orientation, Bird Podzemny educated newcomers on the importance of embracing diversity. At this summer's first session, Podzemny began her speech with an interactive game with the audience. She asked students to stand up if they fell into a variety of categories.
Podzemny reminded students they do not have to like everyone they meet, but they should treat people with respect. The point of the exercise was to realize when people are in a community they are always put in two categories - gender and ethnicity.
"You can't know everything about them," Podzemny said. "The challenge is to meet people different from you because that's how you learn."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
When Podzemny explained racial profiling, she spoke of a specific type of male that participated in the Sept. 11 attack, one that elicited fear which caused our society to act differently.
Podzemny said she hesitated to discuss the war because she didn't feel articulate enough to talk about it.
She discussed stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination and bigotry. Podzemny said having knowledge is the best way to target discrimination and understand and communicate with people who are different. She said when people don't understand something, they fear it.
"The point is not to talk totally about discrimination," Podzemny said. "The challenge is to get to know yourself and learn about other people."
The audience broke up into groups and participated in a stereotype exercise. Gender and ethnicity labels were posted on the walls of the Kiva Lecture Hall. On a piece of paper, students wrote down every stereotype imaginable, crumbled up the paper, and put it in the center of a group.
A "wall of prejudice" was built as orientation leaders wrote each stereotype on a large sheet of paper. Students then walked around and crossed out any stereotypes that were offensive.
Deanna Dietz, orientation leader, attended orientation in the summer of 2001. She said the discrimination exercise was eye opening. She was surprised to see how many terms under each topic can be used.
"Some of the terms that I knew weren't necessarily terms I would use or believe," Dietz said. "I was ashamed to know those terms."
Podzemny concluded by discussing some personal experiences she had with discrimination. She brought her youngest child into the room and explained he is not yet prejudiced.
"These young people are our future," Podzemny said. "The main reason I do this is because of them."
Podzemny has spoken at orientation for the past decade.
"She always rates really high," said Laura Valdez, manager for New Student Orientation. "She is one of the two most popular speakers."
Discussion of discrimination continues in lectures and film series offered by other departments. Valdez said freshmen academic choices and instructors can bring diversity into the curriculum.
"They need to look past stereotypes as they meet new people in college," Valdez said.
