UNI Athletics set to hold first Week of UNIty

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- For the third year straight, UNI student-athletes will host their annual UNIty Walk on the morning of Monday, Oct. 10. For the past three years, the UNIty Walk has served as a reminder of the importance of inclusion and community, and has become a space for UNI student-athletes, coaches and staff to learn from and support one another. This walk was started by student-athlete leaders, and continues to be supported by our leadership groups within the department (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Women of Athletics Leadership Committee (WALC), Minority Student-Athlete Leadership Committee (MSALT) and Morgan's Message at UNI.

This year, the UNIty Walk will serve as a kick-off event for the first Athletics Week of UNIty, a week of programming and events in collaboration with various campus departments and community organizations.

"Our UNIty Walk has been an important and powerful part of our fall semesters for the past three years," says Associate Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Development and Inclusion Andrea Greve Coello. "I'm looking forward to the opportunity to grow this event beyond the Athletics Department, and create a Week of UNIty that will serve as an opportunity to collaborate and support inclusion efforts on our campus and within our community."

These events will be open to all UNI students, staff, and faculty members, as well as Cedar Valley community members. Greve Coello hopes that through this collaborative Week of UNIty, more UNI campus and Cedar Valley community members will attend and participate in these important events.

"I hope the agenda for this week will continue to grow each year to include more events and programs both on campus and in our community with a focus on building community and fostering inclusion," Greve Coello said. "UNI Athletics is really proud of our departmental inclusion efforts, and want to continue to be leaders in this area moving forward."

A list of Week of UNIty events is below along with details on how students, staff, faculty and community members can participate. If you have questions about these events, or would like to be involved in the Athletics Week of UNIty, contact Andrea Greve Coello (andrea.greve@uni.edu).

Monday, Oct. 10 - Indigenous Peoples' Day

3rd Annual UNIty Walk, hosted by UNI Athletics, 7-8 a.m. - Meet at South entrance to McLeod (2501 Hudson Rd, Cedar Falls, IA 50614). Join us on the morning of Oct. 10 to participate in our 3rd annual UNIty Walk and to kick off our first Week of UNIty!

Safe Zone Ally: Phase One (Register online: https://lgbt.uni.edu/safe-zone-ally-registration) hosted by UNI's Gender and Sexuality Services, 2-3:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 11 - National Coming Out Day

LGBTea Time: In Conversation with Taylor Brorby - 12-1 p.m., CME Classroom (109P)
Coming Out Day Scavenger Hunt, All day (cookies served from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.), UNI Botanical Center

Wednesday, Oct. 12

Safe Zone Ally: Phase Two (Register online: https://lgbt.uni.edu/safe-zone-ally-registration) hosted by UNI's Gender and Sexuality Services, 2-4 p.m.
An Evening with Taylor Brorby - Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land (https://guides.lib.uni.edu/leopold-lectures/brorby), 7 p.m., Lang Auditorium (2401 Wisconsin St, Cedar Falls, IA 50614)

Thursday, Oct. 13

UNI Athletics Department Volunteer with Iowa Heartland Habitat for Humanity

Friday, Oct. 14

Burnt City: A Dystopian Bilingual One-Persian Show (Tickets Free at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/426140366307) Created & performed by Josh Hamzehee, 7:30 p.m., Interpreters Theatre, Lang Auditorium 040 (2401 Wisconsin St, Cedar Falls, IA 50614)

Thank you to our campus and community partners for collaborating on our first Athletics Week of UNIty!

Gwenne Berry, Chief Diversity Officer. Ongoing efforts to foster inclusion include the opportunity for Gwenne Berry to present "DEI at UNI" for interested departments or groups with a focus on creating space for difficult but necessary conversations about the issues that separate us. (https://uni.edu/resources/about/diversity-equity-inclusion)

Chiquita Loveless, Director of the Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice (DIS) (https://cme.uni.edu/)

Kalyani Kannan, LGBTQ+ Student Services Coordinator, Gender and Sexuality Services (https://lgbt.uni.edu/)

Jeremy Schraffenberger, Professor of English, Editor of the North American Review

Danielle Mcgeough, Interim Director of Women's and Gender Studies, Director of the Interpreters Theatre

Sara Fitzgerald, Art Director, Prairie Lakes Church

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