This Saturday, about 580 people will be listening to speakers and collaborating ideas in order to get a little closer to a solution that could bring all races together on college campuses and beyond.

Student leaders and their faculty advisers from all across the Midwest will be involved in the Campus Racial Discrimination Workshop that will be held in the Holmes Student Center. About 150 of those registered are from NIU.

Barbara Henley, NIU acting vice president of Student Affairs said this year’s program has had a “tremendous response” and registration has almost doubled from when the first workshop was held last year, not including the current waiting list.

The workshop’s “goal is to bring together student leaders and their advisers to examine campus racism and methods of promoting change,” Henley said.

Hopefully, those attending the workshop will obtain all of the information available and that knowledge will be spread across the NIU campus and all other universities in attendance.

Those involved in developing the program, including Henely and Jon Dalton, former NIU vice president for Student Affairs, should be commended for their efforts and original ideas. Reaching out to student leaders to help increase racial awareness might be the best way possible to reach the students.