There has been a lot of “first” this year at Piedmont including this being the first year the school goes by Piedmont University. The University is looking to do everything possible to bring in more students while also trying to acknowledge their current students, as well as staff, for the work they do behind the scenes. Many more events have been planned and it has allowed many people to take notice. 

This year’s Diversity Day is also one of the “first” to be talked about. There has been so much planning and effort put into the events’ first annual appearance. The event will take place Thursday, Feb. 17th, from 10:30 am until 1:30 pm in the student commons on the Demorest Campus of Piedmont University. While the Athens Campus is set to have its own Diversity Day on Tuesday, Feb. 22nd in the lobby of their campus. 

“Diversity Day was created by the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council – otherwise known as the DEI – to celebrate the diverse nature of both the Demorest campus and the Athens Campus,” said Bill Gabelhausen, director of events for the DEI Council. 

Although nobody has ever had anything like this happen on campus, the DEI Council has been around for a couple of years and is made up of a mix of faculty and students as well. “We have been doing good things as a council, but we were never really visible on campus,” said Gabelhausen. “A couple of members of the council came up with this idea to get our names and faces out there, so people can know that we are there for them as a resource and can help them.”  

This event’s main goal is to spread awareness of and celebrate the diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment of both Piedmont Universities campuses. There will be many clubs at each event all with this goal in mind and to help get information out to the students and faculty that attend. As well as giveaways of T-shirts, notebooks, pens, cups, etc.  

“We want this to be an annual event for a long time,” said Gabelhausen. “This is just an information session; people can drop in visit tables and get all the information they want and even sign pledge cards. This is just allowing everyone to see that we as a council are here for them.”