In the Panasci Lounge, postcards from anonymous people were put on display, answering a simple question — who are you?

Some cards described the individual’s looks, while others gave personal qualities. Some even used their artistic abilities to create doodles to answer the question.

Inside of a room in the lounge, some of the postcards were displayed in a slideshow, with a voiceover reading the cards aloud. Meanwhile, First Year Players performed several songs from their upcoming production of “Rent.”

It was all part of the “Who Are You” Postcard Event that took place in Panasci Lounge in the Schine Student Center on Tuesday. About 60 people walked around the lounge, looking at how others describe themselves on a postcard.

In the fall of 2013, the Anti-Bias Education Team of the Division of Student Affairs had students, faculty and staff fill out postcards anonymously to answer the question of who they were. People were able to fill out cards at tables in Schine or online, said Diane Wiener, the director of the Disability Cultural Center and a member of ABET.

Members of ABET work together to raise awareness about the importance of respect and acknowledging how diversity positively influences the SU community, she said. They strive to teach people how damaging and unethical bias is and also try to highlight diversity’s importance and positive aspects, she said.

“Instead of having an approach of what some people jokingly refer as ‘bias bad, diversity good,’ we’re trying to encourage people to think about how it’s advantageous that imagine a world that’s free of bias, and to develop allies.”

Kerry Heckman, program coordinator for the office of Off-Campus and Commuter Services, came up with the original idea for the event after being inspired by PostSecret, a community project in which people mail their secrets anonymously on a homemade postcard, Wiener said.

Last year, they received about 160 postcards, said Radell Roberts, assistant to the office of the associate vice president for the Inclusion, Community and Citizenship portfolio within Student Affairs. This year, 200 postcards were filled out.

With the participation increase in mind, Roberts said ABET is thinking about what will be next.

“We keep thinking about and talking to people about other ways to use this, so I think that there is potential in the future to have a chance for discussion,” she said.

Roberts said the answers vary, ranging from people describing and listing their ethnicities and sexual preferences to their involvement on campus. She added that the postcards also serve as a reminder that people have multiple identities that are constantly changing.

“We all have labels put on us, and identities assumed about us, but how would you define and describe yourself in a few words?” she said. “Realizing that it’s changeable and fluid, it might not be the same as it were last year.”

Wiener hopes people will feel a sense of compassion and connectedness when they read what others have written about their identity. She added that she hopes that the event inspires others to be an empowered bystander and speak up in tough situations.

Said Wiener: “I hope they will be more likely or not to demonstrate the integrity that’s required when you’re faced with an ethical situation that might be challenging to you, because you might not want to speak out but you need to anyway.”

Staff Photographer Tabitha Hoag contributed reporting to this story.

Published on April 2, 2014 at 1:36 am

Contact Ellen: ekmeyers@syr.edu | @ellenkmeyers