Annual Shepard Symposium Oct. 14-20 at UW

“Finding Common Ground” is the theme of the annual Shepard Symposium on Social Justice Monday-Friday, Oct. 14-18, at the University of Wyoming. The program marks the 26th anniversary memorial of UW student Matthew Shepard, who was murdered in 1998.

The Shepard Symposium has grown from a local grassroots event to an internationally recognized conference. Originally named “The Symposium for the Eradication of Social Inequality” by former UW College of Education faculty members Omowale Akintunde and Margaret Cooney 27 years ago, the annual event was renamed to honor the work of the Shepard family and the memory of their son.

Through this year’s theme, event organizers urge attendees to consider the ways in which individuals -- on campus, in the Laramie community, around the state, in the Rocky Mountain region and in the world -- promote acts of social justice in small, medium and, perhaps, even large ways. The goal is to find common ground among people around the world.

Various workshops, discussions, presentations, a film screening, informational tables and games are planned throughout the symposium and are free and open to the public. A full day of presentations and workshops is scheduled Thursday, Oct. 17, in the Wyoming Union. A free lunch will be provided from 11:45-1 p.m. in the Wyoming Union center ballroom.

Michelle Schamp is chair of this fall’s Shepard Symposium, and her co-chairs are Hannah Downey and Allison Gernant.

“This year’s Shepard Symposium urges students, staff, faculty and community members to come together to find common ground,” Downey says. “In the current climate, it is more important than ever that we come together, back to our humanity, and remember the ways in which we are all part of a community who cares about and supports one another.”

Two years ago, symposium organizers shifted the annual spring event to a fall program. Schamp says more events are planned in the spring.

For more information and to view the entire schedule, visit the symposium website at www.shepardsymposium.weebly.com or follow on Instagram or Facebook.