Utica University Community Walks in Union for 2023 Unity Walk

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Utica University Community Walks in Union for 2023 Unity Walk

Unity Walk 2023 - Walking with banner 02

This event highlights Utica University’s common goal of creating a welcoming experience and shows that we are stronger together as Pioneers.

Once again, the Utica University Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging held its annual Unity Walk with the theme of 2023's walk being “Spreading Kindness.”

Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, a coalition of students, faculty, and staff walked the streets of Utica in a demonstration of unity against people and institutions determined to sow division.Today, the Unity Walk is an annual tradition, celebrating the University's values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. The event allows Pioneers to come together to publicly acknowledge the university’s stance on the importance of diversity and values of belonging.

During this event, the entire University body comes together, holding posters and signs signaling their causes and what inclusion means to them. Hundreds of students, faculty and staff members then march together around the Utica campus in a symbol of unity.

This event highlights Utica University’s common goal of creating a welcoming experience and shows that we are stronger together as Pioneers.

The Fall 2023 Unity Walk stepped off at Duffy Plaza on a beautiful October afternoon with hundreds of participants in the two sessions. The event culminated with a rally on the back lawn of the Strebel Student Center with refreshments, music, performances, signing and reading Utica University’s Stance Statement.

A new feature this year was an invitation to students, faculty and staff to decorate their dorm room or office doors with ways they choose kindness. Many shared tips on being kind and what inclusion means to them.

Learn more about the history of the Unity Walk by clicking here.