Education the goal of Sikh conference

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) -- Raising awareness and ending bullying was the goal of Saturday's Sikh Education and Awareness Conference, held at Ivy Tech Community College .

"Unfortunately, many people see a Sikh walking down the street, and they automatically assume, 'Here's a terrorist, here's a Muslim, here's a bad person,' and that's absolutely not true," said Shawn Way, host of the conference.  "They're good people, they have dreams and aspirations just like we do.  We want to educate people that they're just like us."

Several speakers took the stage at the conference, including Chancellor Jerrilee Mosier of Ivy Tech−Northeast, Dr. Arvind-Pal Mandair from the University of Michigan , and Dr. Carl Jylland-Halverson from the University of Saint Francis .  They taught attendees about the Sikh religion, how it started, and its main teachings and practices.

Organizers began putting together the conference after the killing of six people at a Sikh temple near Milwaukee in August .

"We wanted to try to help in any way we can and show our support for the Sikhs," said Way.  "This is branching off from that, and hopefully we can go from here, start other functions, and just get out to the people."

This is the first conference of its kind in Fort Wayne, and organizers hope to make it an annual event.