This afternoon, the Brothers of Delta Kappa Epsilon hosted a Kaleidoscope social justice discussion that was conducted by four Lafayette students, Chris Kelly, Jessica London, Danyelle Smith, and Arielle Reyes.

The Kaleidoscope social justice peer education group “encourages students to take an active role in campus education regarding issues of multiculturalism, equity, and social justice.” These discussions lead to an increased awareness of the diversity that is present all around us in everyday life.

The Brothers listened as the speakers discussed individual identity versus group identity and the difference between power and privilege. The Brothers also engaged in an activity that involved standing up when a particular sentence applied to them. We learned that social justice is both a process and a goal, that different people are affected by different words in different ways, and how to be aware of our prejudices that we may not know exist.

The talk was capped off with a quote by Paulo Freire, a Brazilian theorist – “Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.”

When asked for additional clarification of what this quote means in a few words, Brother John Burke said that indifference is enabling the powerful.

These types of talks are important to facilitate increased awareness both campus wide and worldwide and the Brothers of DKE were extremely excited to be able to engage in an invaluable opportunity.