(WARRENSBURG, Mo.) – Spotlight hosted the Unity Pole, an event for Unity Week, a series of events intended to bring diverse groups together Wednesday, Feb. 7, in the Union Atrium.
Members of Spotlight guided students while they tied yarn around poles that they identified with. Poles in the activity had labels that allowed to students to identify as religious or non-religious, a first-generation student, part of the UCM community and other common characteristics of people.
Emily Bergsieker, the assistant director for Student Activities and the Spotlight adviser, said everyone starts at the Unity Pole and then they go around to the other poles.
“The string starts to overlap and intertwine showing that we are one and we are all connected in one way or another,” Bergsieker said.
Kylie Thompson, a student involved in Spotlight, participated in the event. She identified to the UCM community pole, the traditional student pole and the non-religious pole by wrapping yarn around them.
“It’s a good way to see the different parts of the UCM community and to see what everyone else identifies with,” Thompson said.
Unity Week included the Tunnel of Oppression event, Unity Pole event, a blackout Mules and Jennies basketball game, a deaf culture event and motivational speaker Josh Rivedal.
“This event is important, not just Unity Pole, but the whole week, to show the different parts of unity with Tunnel of Oppression,” Bergsieker said. “We did Tunnel of Oppression to show that we can all come together as one campus and one voice and have one goal in mind of being united.”
 
“This event is important, not just Unity Pole, but the whole week, to show the different parts of unity with Tunnel of Oppression,” Bergsieker said. “We did Tunnel of Oppression to show that we can all come together as one campus and one voice and have one goal in mind of being united.”