On Monday, the word ‘diversity’ was at the forefront of Minnesota Norths annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. The rally’s speakers brought their own interpretations of the word, one, describing Minnesota North itself.

“Here at Minnesota North, we bring in students from all across the world. We bring them here to Virginia, Minnesota. And we always want to make them feel like this is a home away from home. And we want to just show them that we support them and that we hear them. We’re listening to them,” said Antavius Thomas, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director for Minnesota North Mesabi campus.

Thomas sees firsthand the range of students walking in and out of its doors.

“A lot of students that we bring in have never heard of Virginia, Minnesota before we started to recruit them to our college. So that’s why it’s always important to talk to them about it, to make them feel like it’s a safe space for them,” said Thomas.

With the vast differences in each person at Minnesota North, one of the days’ guest speakers, Kieth Turner says it’s important to learn how to accept each other for our differences.

“The importance is for our students and even our faculty and staff, the understanding of how it is to be able to get along and the understanding that we all come from different backgrounds and different cultures and ethnicities. It gives us the opportunity, we may not agree, but to agree to disagree and help us get along and still have a common goal of being good human beings,” said Turner.

The more diverse the area becomes, the greater the chance for conversation about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“Now that we have the colleges here and we have a lot of athletes and people coming and attracted to our schools and the colleges, we’re able to provide more conversations around equity and inclusion and provide a place for people to feel like they belong somewhere,” said guest speaker Fawn Sampson.