Students at the University of Virginia wanted to show and celebrate diversity on campus. On that note three students created a Tumblr, “We Are All UVa,” where students take photos holding placards speaking out about their experiences.
A group of students involved in the blog are five members of the varsity swim team. Parker Camp, who told his coming out story on Outsports last month, saw the Tumblr and was inspired to do the same with his teammates.
The other gay swimmer is open but did not want publicity. The whole point of this photo is not caring who is gay or straight, which is what the athletes were aiming for when they took it. 4th year swimmer told Outsports:
"Taking the photo with them was the least I could do to prove to them that our friendships are unaffected by their coming out. But I'm pretty sure the only reason Parker asked to hold the sign was to hide how fat he's become since our season ended!"
"We Are All UVa” is modeled after a similar project at Harvard. One of the creators said in the campus newspaper, “Diversity includes the differences we can’t see. It’s more than race and ethnicity…diversity is meant be [an] inclusive concept; the point of challenging it is that it can be a very polarizing conversation.”