“A Unity Affair” is the title of a dance to be held by the newly formed Coalition for Unity this Thursday evening at the Eagle’s Club.

The coalition, made up of members of numerous student groups on campus, was created shortly after the recent display of racist fliers on Huskie buses. It was responsible for organizing the March 4 rally against racism, said member Tom Rainey.

“The overall intent of the committee is to maintain strong relations between all of the groups on campus. We especially want to keep the line of communication open between minority and other student groups,” Rainey said.

e added, “It is unfortunate that it was such a terrible incident that brought us into being, but we want to keep going. We need to heal the fractures that have occurred and prevent new ones from happening through weekly meetings and as a consulting body with the university in the event of further unrest on campus.”

Members of the coalition include students from such organizations as the Inter-Fraternity Council, the Sigma Chi fraternity, the Black Student Union, the John Lennon Society, MECHA, the Organization of Latin American Students, the Gay/Lesbian Union and the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

“The idea for the dance came about when we found out about a similar event at the University of Wisconsin in Madison,” said coalition member Paul Schmig. “They held a dance organized by various progressive student groups on campus. I guess it could kind of be considered a radical mixer.”

“The dance here at NIU is open to all who want to attend,” he added. “It’s an opportunity for all of the segments on campus to come together—fraternities, sororities, the handicapped, women, gays, lesbians and students of different races.

“We think the dance will be a good way of bringing people from different social as well as racial backgrounds together in a party atmosphere,” said coalition member Julie Stege.

“We just want to point out that people are people and students are students and that parties are often as segmented as the rest of people’s lives. This is one way of showing that we all have something in common,” she added.

The dance will begin at 8 p.m. at the Eagle’s Club, 158 N. 4th St. Admission is $2 and alcohol will be served to those over 21.

Music will be organized by WKDI, but anyone who wants to bring their own music is welcome to, Rainey said. A disc jockey will be there to mix. “We want even the music to be multi-cultural.”