This story originally appeared in The Centre County Gazette.
STATE COLLEGE — Penn State and the Borough of State College are connecting the community at the PA Dignity Day event on Wednesday, Oct. 16.
PA Dignity Day is the localized celebration of Global Dignity Day which takes place on the third Wednesday of October every year. The day was first celebrated in 2008 and is an international celebration of dignity, unification and humanity.
The event on Wednesday, Oct. 16, will be from noon to 5 p.m. at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. The celebration is free and open to the public and will include special speakers, community discussions and interactive workshops that will bring together Penn State’s campus community with the surrounding Centre County community.
“PA Dignity Day, hosted by Penn State and the Borough of State College, strengthens our community by affirming our shared commitment to the inherent dignity of all people while building partnerships at the local level focused on advancing inclusion and respect for everyone who calls our community home,” Michael Wade Smith, Penn State senior vice president and chief of staff, said in a statement.
“Dignity, diversity and equity are important values that represent a critical part of our academic, research and public service mission. We are proud to work alongside our neighbors in living out these values here in our community.”
The local event has been held for three years and will feature Rosalind Wiseman as the keynote speaker for this year’s celebration. Wiseman is a bestselling author whose work surrounds themes of dignity, respect and both social and power dynamics.
“This collaborative effort invites all members of the State College community to converse with one another, participate in facilitated discussions and leave with ideas and skills that bring more dignity to daily interactions,” Tom Fountaine, borough manager, said. “The growth within this partnership and the success of the events demonstrates how impactful a well-established town-and-gown relationship can be to the community for both students and long-term residents.”
The Project Unite team also will train attendees to use the Dignity Index, a scale used to measure how people talk to each other when they disagree.
Other facilitators include:
- SeriaShia Chatters, interim vice provost for educational equity at Penn State.
- Elizabeth Siegelman from The Center for Alternatives in Community Justice and Irvin Moore from Penn State’s Restorative Justice Initiative.
- Nalini Krishnankutty, diversity, inclusion and belonging program manager for Penn State Human Resources.
- Madeleine Jones, field director for Students for Dignity, and Iradukuna Esperance, Students for Dignity Ambassador.
- Wanda B. Knight, professor of art education; African American studies; and women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Penn State.
Registration for the event is required to attend. To register, visit outreach.psu.edu/pa-dignity-day.
