The SGA is teaming up with Stillman College and Shelton State Community College to sponsor the fourth annual Unity Day.

“It is easy to forget sometimes that there are other colleges in Tuscaloosa, and pretty hard to reach out and make connections with students from Shelton State and Stillman College,” said Johnjerica Hodge, SGA director for Stillman College relations.

The event will be held at Stillman today at 3 p.m. Free food along with music and games will be provided. An opportunity to meet and socialize with people from all institutions of Tuscaloosa will also be available.

Hodge also said Unity Day is important because there are few opportunities for students at the University to interact with students from Stillman and Shelton. She said most of the time students are limited to only getting the views of others on campus.

Teams from each school will compete in activities such as flag football, basketball, dodge ball and kickball.

SGA President Steven Oliver is looking forward to the events as well.

“Reaching out to other school communities in the Tuscaloosa area is a great way to bind our schools by developing positive relations with one another,” Oliver said. “In doing this, we can create a web of communication and collaboration that can expand into projects in the future.”

The community service aspect of Unity Day gave the student volunteers a chance to get away from their campuses and help at the Boys and Girls Club, Hodge said.

“It was added to Unity Day to show students how much more the schools could accomplish in giving back when working together,” Hodge said.

Unity Day will conclude with a balloon release in which each school will release balloons of their school colors, mixing them together in a representation of the bond to be made between the campuses.

“It is my hope that Unity Day will only be a starting point to a closer relationship between the students on each campus, to the point in which students will be participating in events at each school,” Hodge said. “Positive relationships with the other schools in Tuscaloosa can only provide a positive light to our own campus life.”