NYU held its 6th annual Ally Week this year from Apr. 11-15, and the event was celebrated in multiple NYU campuses including Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, Accra, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, Prague, Madrid, Sydney, and Tel Aviv. A signature university-wide event, Ally Week provides members of the NYU community with an opportunity to foster cross-cultural interactions and allows individuals to deepen their understanding of the experiences others face in our community, particularly from the point of view of micro-communities. Several events are hosted throughout the week at the different NYU campuses to raise awareness about individual and collective injustices, to understand oppression, to examine stereotypes and prejudices, and to pledge to be more supportive and understanding. NYU Ally Week is hosted by the Center for Multicultural Education and Programs (CMEP) and the LGBTQ Student Center. Here in New York, the week kicked off on Monday, Apr. 11, with the “Community Photo”, a university-wide Ally Week photo with NYU President Andrew Hamilton. Other highlights during the week included Action Zone training which is a bystander intervention training for risk reduction, Diversity Zone Training, Know your Rights Trivia Night, Disability Zone, and LGBTQ experiences abroad. Events were also held to raise awareness about the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria, on-campus experiences faced by Muslims students from all backgrounds, and federal and local policies about undocumented students specifically at NYU. Throughout the week, photo booths were also present at the Kimmel Center for University Life in Manhattan and at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering in Brooklyn, where students could take photos and pledge to become an ally. The NYU Ally Week Planning Committee is responsible for coordinating programming during the week; campus partners and organizations reach out to the committee in advance to collaborate on programming and partnering on a few large scale events for promotion. This year’s event was co-sponsored by 24 organizations and supported by coordinated programming with many more organiaztions. At the Washington Square campus, there are subcommittees for each aspect of NYU Ally Week that include staff members, students, and faculty from across the university, all of whom contribute to the visioning, coordination, and execution of the celebration. Selima Jumarali, Associate Director at the CMEP, spoke with OCA about how Ally Week has changed over the years. “This year’s Ally Week differs from previous years in that it has much more of an established presence than ever before and something people have come to look forward to and become excited about," Jumarali said. "This year, we have new ways to engage via social media including a Twibbon for your Facebook profile picture and a Buzzfeed quiz that tells you what Ally animal you are! In addition, the programming leading up to and during Ally Week has expanded over time, with programming hosted by student clubs, schools and departments, residence halls, and NYU global sites!” At the NYU New York campus, there was increased engagement in Ally Week this year, particularly through the engagement with Residence Life on Washington Square - 1,966 signatures were gathered from across the university, which is a 6.3% increase from the 1,850 signatures gathered in 2015. Moreover, 19 “in-hall” Ally Week events took place at the NYUNY campus this year, which is an 111% increase from Ally Week 2015 (9 in-hall events). Jumarali commented, “This year’s Marquee Event featured a conversation between Jennifer Morgan, Chair of NYU’s Social and Cultural Analysis Department, and Mia Mackenzie, an award-winning writer, a dynamic speaker, and the creator of Black Girl Dangerous Media and BGD Press. The conversation pushed us to think more critically about our role in social change, beyond the label of “ally.” NYU Ally Week can continue to improve by partnering with more organizations on campus to help marketing and promotions before and during the events, “as well as by empowering these organizations and providing them resources to continue to educate themselves and their own communities about how to further inclusion, equity and social justice within their niches and beyond,” added Jumarali. This year’s Ally Week celebration also featured a video by President Andrew Hamilton. This article was written by Lathika Chandra Mouli. Please send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: NYU Ally Week Photo Gallery