Resident assistants Dan Gans and Rebecca Agrast hosted Culture Shock, a diversity awareness program with a game show twist, last night in Prentice Hall. DANA BEVERIDGE | DAILY KENT STATER

Credit: Ron Soltys

Prentice and Dunbar Hall hosted Culture Shock, a TV-themed diversity program, last night in Prentice Hall.

The event featured three stations, each one a different TV show. At one station, participants played Culture Shock Jeopardy with categories like Famous African Americans, Famous Jews and Name the Race. At another station, students had to answer questions about different cultures to win food, water and shelter in Survivor. Between each TV show, two resident assistants acted out commercials dealing with diversity.

This was the first large-scale event for Prentice and Dunbar Hall. The nine RAs from Prentice and Dunbar planned the event, and it was funded through the hall councils.

While there are many events for Black History Month around campus, the Prentice and Dunbar RAs wanted to encompass a variety of cultures, said Gregory Jurica, assistant resident hall director for Dunbar and Prentice.

“(We) wanted to use Black History Month as a spring board to reflect on other multi-cultural issues,” Jurica said. “The RAs covered things they felt were relevant on campus.”

Kolleen Klann, RA in Prentice Hall, said the event was about celebrating and nurturing diversity.

“We wanted to celebrate all cultural minorities and recognize diversity in all groups,” Klann said.

Sophomore fashion design major Karlecia Wright said diversity is always good to learn about, and for her, the program was another growing experience.

“We sometimes aren’t empathetic of other people,” Wright said. “We don’t put ourselves in other people’s shoes.”

Although diversity was the main point of the evening, Klann said it is also important students have fun while learning.

“I know that the traditional lecturing doesn’t help a person remember it,” Klann said. “And if you’re involved in it, you’ll actually remember it.”

Jurica said he wanted students to have fun, but he also wanted them to go walk away with more than the free pizza provided.

“We’re asking residents to think about what they learned,” he said. “We have them plan for being a responsible citizen.”

Contact room and board reporter Brittany Moseley at [email protected].