Junior Johanna DeGuzman flipped through the dozens of red cards that hung from a clothesline spanning Stamp Student Union’s Atrium.

The back of each card read, “See Me,” while the front showed one of many ways students at this university wrote how they wished to be seen beyond their physical appearance.

“An equal.” “An ally 4 LGBTQ.” “Blonde AND smart.”

The art exhibit, “SeeMe: More Than How I Look,” was a collaboration between the graphic design concentration and the Student Government Association’s Diversity Committee and was on display yesterday.

Graphic design professor Audra Buck-Coleman said the event was designed to promote the committee and prompt discussion about diversity on this campus.

“UMD loves to tout itself as being one of the most diverse [universities]; it is the most diverse flagship, all these sort of statistics and numbers,” Buck-Coleman said. “But what does that really mean? What does that look like for students, and what does that look like for the rest of the population on campus?”

The exhibit featured eight posters that showed different images depending on the visitor’s viewpoint. From one angle, viewers could see a quote from a student about how others might perceive him or her, and from the other, the poster displayed a photo of a student and a phrase explaining how he or she wished to be seen.

The artwork represented students of different races, cultures, religions and genders.

One piece showed a black student who wrote that she wished to be seen as an individual.

“Some people believe that because I behave differently than what they expect, I am not ‘actually black,’ but black is a race, not a pattern of behavior,” the other side of the poster read.

Senior studio art major Steffanie Espat, the event’s creative director, said the pieces “play with visual illusions in order to further portray the idea of seeing someone as more than” his or her physical appearance.

Senior American studies major Alexander Pryor, who was featured on a poster, said the event was powerful because it was interactive, allowing visitors to share their own experiences by writing and hanging up one of the “See Me” cards.

“Seeing these physical displays, having the audience come in and interact with the display and contribute their own comments to it, it’s really powerful,” Pryor said.

DeGuzman, the SGA diversity director, said she hopes this event and other efforts by the committee can teach students to become more inclusive by avoiding using microaggressions, which are minor, invalidating comments based on someone’s identity in a marginalized population.

“Especially on such a diverse campus like this, microaggressions and stereotypes and everything like that is something that students shouldn’t have to go through, especially being surrounded by people from different cultures and backgrounds,” said DeGuzman, a communication major.

About 20 graphic design students began working on this project in Buck-Coleman’s social design class last semester. The class conducted surveys on the campus, interviewed students and created posters to reflect their findings.

While the bulk of the planning and preparation was completed last semester, Buck-Coleman said recent events on this campus and other college campuses make the SeeMe event timely and relevant.

The event was originally planned to be on McKeldin Mall but was moved to the Atrium to avoid the risk of inclement weather. Pryor said this made the exhibit less open and accessible, but he said he hoped people would still hear about the event and come see it.

“There’s a lot of potential for better understanding, for Terps to be known as those types of college graduates who are hip and who know how to navigate diverse spaces,” he said.

Sophomore Keyona Islar said she wants events like this to help people understand different perspectives and cultures on this campus.

“People can’t change the way that they act if they aren’t aware of it in the first place,” the marketing and studio art major said. “I definitely think spreading that awareness can help people think about their actions.”