With Thanksgiving break, the last respite before finals, still weeks away, students at the University of Connecticut might have trouble finding ways to minimize stress. But for those struggling, what better way to soothe the nerves than a mini-game show and a night of painting with friends?
STEM Scholars, an Honors community at UConn, hosted a “DEI Paint Night” on Thursday, Nov. 6. Over 20 students gathered at the Gentry building for an hour filled with bonding activities and plenty of painting.
Members of STEM Scholars began by explaining what Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is and why it is important. They emphasized fostering community, helping understand one another and creativity as some of the biggest benefits.
The attendees were divided into groups for a brief game. The STEM Scholars gave a category, and each group had to try naming something that belonged to it for each letter of the alphabet. The first round focused on countries and was followed by languages, food and holidays.
There were no prizes for getting the most names down, but a 90-second time limit kept things tense. After each round, the STEM Scholars posed some questions for the groups about the different cultures that might have been represented in their answers.
Morgan Bentley, a seventh-semester psychology major and one of the STEM Scholars leading the event, said the DEI component was helpful to implement. She said the paint night has become an annual occurrence because of its success.
“We added the DEI portion of it to make it a little bit more engaging so people will communicate with each other [and] problem solve,” Bentley said. “We could also make it an Honors event, which is really nice, and we did have some here for that purpose in addition to the STEM Scholar community.”
After the game segment, the painting portion of the night began. Each student was given a canvas along with a variety of paint colors and brush types to choose from. Students talked amongst themselves about what they were painting, creating a lighthearted atmosphere.
The attendees produced a variety of work. Some students focused on nature scenes with flowers, trees, turtles and skies; others went more abstract, blending colors in unexpected patterns. One student even illustrated a mini-SpongeBob scene.
Yelsi Vega, a first-semester mechanical engineering student, painted a red flower with a warm-colored sky gradient behind it. She said she was impressed by the painting materials available at the event.
“There were a lot of options; I don’t usually see that,” Vega said. “There was even some Spanish paint that we could do ombre with.”
Ryan Krishna, a fifth-semester student pursuing an individualized major on the neuroscience of language, along with English, made an abstract painting with different shades of blue and glow-in-the-dark paint. He said he had lots of fun naming things for certain topics during the game portion but was not as invested in other categories.
“I really enjoyed the geography and the painting, especially with the diverse selection of blues,” Krishna said. “It was fascinating to see others’ artworks and getting to share my work with others.”