Students shared the identities and groups they belong to while eating pizza at an event on Monday.

At the “Share a Pizz-a Your Identity” event, hosted by the Office of Student Engagement, students used colored string to connect note cards with different identities, like atheist, gay, Black or non-binary.

“It got [students] engaged and talking and sharing pieces of themselves,” OSE leadership and involvement specialist Lea Brisbane said. “I saw several students asking about various identities so they’re learning new terms, which is great.”

“Share a Pizz-a Your Identity” is the first of four events OSE will host for the back-to-school Welcome Week. It will also host an online photo caption contest on Tuesday, an event where students paint rocks and eat donuts, and music bingo.

SGA President Zack Buster said the event was “a way of getting people to connect all of these separate parts of themselves together, while also connecting people in the college community.”

“People get to honestly just understand each other better and understand what makes us different, but what connects us all at the same time,” Buster, a third-year communications student, said. “People realize just how much they’re connected with people who are so … different than them. And they get to really talk to each other on a human level.”

Megan Van Der Walt, a third-year engineering student, said the event made her feel more welcome on campus as an international student.

“Even though there’s no, like, names attached to it or anything, it’s nice to know that, like, you’re kind of seen by everyone else,” Van Der Walt said.