By Megan Hurt

Russell Stevenson said people associated with the Mormon faith have not been reflected properly in the media during this year’s election.

This is due to presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the first Mormon candidate, and issues like Proposition 8, a bill to ban gay marriages in California, Stevenson said.

“Due to the quick story or the quick sound bite, depictions of Mormons are simplified and made into characterizations,” said Stevenson, who is a history graduate student and a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints.

“We are not one collective mind. People should understand that Mormons are more than a sound bite,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson said he hopes to change how UK students see the Mormon faith and it’s members during the next installment of the Student Activities Board series “Faithbusters,” which will be held Thursday at 7 p.m. in the W.T. Young Library Auditorium.

“Faithbusters” is an event created for people to learn about unknown or interesting religions that can be found in UK’s community from the people who practice them. The event is in its second semester, and previous religions examined include Judaism, Catholicism and Buddhism.

Stevenson said he will bring in a panel of four to six LDS church members to show diversity in the religion.

“Everyone is cut from the same cloth, but lives different experiences,” Stevenson said. “We are bonded through our faith in Christ and our ideas, but we are diverse in many ways.”

The panel will consist of people who were raised as Mormons and some who joined the church later in their lives, said Hilary Perrine, the director of multicultural affairs for SAB.

“The people we choose for the panel are really representative of our church,” Stevenson said. “They are people with different experiences. The panel allows for a broader understanding and heightens the diversity [of Mormonism].”

SAB wants events like “Faithbusters” to encourage UK students to broaden their views about people who are different from them, Perrine said.

“It’s so important to understand other people,” she said. “In the end it helps us create a better community.”

Ashlee Harris, director of public relations for SAB, thinks it’s important for students to attend events like “Faithbusters” in light of the recent Barack Obama effigy incident on campus.

Harris said the UK forum held the night of the incident helped her understand the importance of exploring different backgrounds and cultures at UK.

“Bringing in diversity (to UK) means more than just race,” Harris said. “It’s also exploring people who think differently than you. ‘Faithbusters’ is about embracing diversity.”