Free pizza and soda helped attract more than 150 people to Tuesday's Defining Diversity fair, which highlighted the variety of people at ASU.
The fair was part of the fourth annual "A Week Spirit and Pride," which is sponsored by the Programming and Activities Board.
"A Week is about making partnerships," said PAB president Andrew Moe.
Loud music and a large maroon-and-gold sign promising free food attempted to draw students off the mall and onto the east end of the Student Services lawn.
The first thing participants encountered were large free speech boards with the prompt "I am," then left blank for them to fill in.
"I am an Irish princess," one entry said.
"I am a gay man," said another.
"I am a proud Hoosier," read a third.
Moe said it was exactly these kinds of differences that the fair was celebrating -- not just different races or sexual orientations, but anything that makes a person unique.
"It's really about what it means to be you," he added.
Early childhood education junior Diana Van Cott said the fair was good at getting people's attention.
"Any student would come if there's free food," Van Cott said.
Early childhood education junior Sarah Mark said she liked the fair, and she would probably go to another A Week activity if she could fit it into her schedule.
Catherine Spear, PAB's assistant director of A Week, said this was the first time the diversity fair had been part of the week's activities.
Spear said the aim of the event was to increase knowledge about diversity on campus and help students connect with groups.
Previous years were on either end of the spectrum as far as the amount of activities, Moe said.
He added PAB wanted to expand A Week this year to the point where students could take place in all of the week's events without being overwhelmed.
Activities started on Saturday with another new event, the Cesar Chavez Day of Service. Monday continued with a Coca-Cola-sponsored viewing party for the NCAA finals, which drew "a couple thousand people," Moe said.
Tuesday featured a speech by Pablo Rodriguez, who worked with administrators and student groups on diversity issues as a student leader at Texas A&M.
The San Diego band Absynth Academy will perform today on Hayden Lawn. The festivities will end Friday with the A Week Luau in the Cholla Hall courtyard.
Reach the reporter at andrea.adams@asu.edu.
