Printed on the back of black T-shirts were the words "Create your own," with a framed white square beneath them. Some students sporting the shirts had drawn in an image, while others had left theirs blank.
The front of the shirt read "Portraits," referring to the production on diversity put on by Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. March 30 and 31.
The show consisted of a collection of monologues that touched on a broad range of topics and were performed by a diverse array of students.
"We felt as though there really was a need for something like this and that need wasn't being fulfilled by anything on Grounds," third-year Commerce student and event co-chair Nassim Hooshmandnia said. "We wanted people to have an opportunity to share their views, tell their story to people that normally wouldn't hear it."
"Portraits" was intended to give students a chance to give their opinion on issues of diversity at the University, said fourth-year College student Jessica Lloyd, the other co-chair of the production.
"A lot of times our understanding of culture or of people who are different is pretty flat ... it has no significance," she said. "We thought by sort of bringing these [issues] into three-dimensional portraits, people would have a better understanding of themselves and of others."
Some students who had submitted a piece chose to present it themselves, while others decided to have someone else perform for them. Each of the seven active Theta Nu Xi sorority sisters performed a monologue, too.
The performers displayed a range of emotions, from passionate anger to near tearful presentations. Lloyd said she received numerous responses on one story in particular -- "My Nightmare," written and performed by first-year College student Sahara Muradi.
"It was about being Middle Eastern and what she had to go through after 9-11," Hooshmandnia said. "I think it's something that's a pretty new form of discrimination that hasn't been talked about that much. I think it was very necessary for people to hear."
Other topics of the presentations included race, stereotypes, sexuality, racism, prejudice and identity.
"We feel that the biggest strength of 'Portraits' was that all of the pieces didn't go together," Lloyd said. "They didn't all say the same perspective, and a lot of them contradicted each other."
While the production was new this year, Lloyd said they plan to continue it annually, based on the positive responses they have received.
"I think each person took something different away," Hooshmandnia said. "People came from all different walks of life, and I'm sure something, one line, struck a chord with each person; we have no idea what line that would be, but I think there was definitely an impression made."
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