Silence will permeate the Penn State campus Thursday as students gather to take a stand against oppression.

"The idea is to show how oppression is connected," said Manish Vaidya, facilitator for Penn State's first Day of Silence. "We are showing how everyone can come together as a family."

Nearly 200 students are expected to participate in the Pride Week event, which includes an eight-hour period of silence.

Anyone who feels strongly about oppression is welcome to participate, Vaidya said.

"We want people to ask when they are walking around campus, 'Is there something I have done to silence people and what can I do to change that?' " Vaidya said.

The day will end with a "breaking of the silence"-- a meeting where participants are encouraged to examine their lives and the lives of others to determine why oppression occurs and how to prevent it.

Pride Week is longer than a seven-day celebration of diversity within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, said Kelly Ross, director of Allies.

The festivities span across two and a half weeks and include several events, such as the annual Unity Prom, said Chris Brown, social chair of Lambda Student Alliance.

"It's a celebration for people who weren't allowed to bring same-sex dates to their high school proms," he said.

Many high school administrations have rules which forbid students from bringing same-sex partners to school functions, Brown added.

At the end of the evening two attendees -- a woman and a man -- will be named prom king. Also, there will be two prom queens of opposite genders, he said.

Safer Sex Cabaret will include a series of musical and theatrical productions about condoms, lubricants and other ways to make sex safer, Ross said.

"The skits will be funny, but the message is serious," she added.

Other festivities include a one-man play by Jeffrey Solomon, Ross said.

The performance is about a gay Jewish man coming to terms with his sexuality, Ross said.

More than 68 organizations are co-sponsoring the week's festivities -- the most the week has ever had, Brown said.