Diversity Program

With the institutions of higher education in America gaining diversity, there has been widespread uproar about the frequent occurrence of racial discrimination on college campuses. Minority students at various universities have

Dr. Cephas Archie is the Diversity & Inclusion Program Coordinator for Houston Community College (HCC), where he assists in the implementation of the colleges 7 + campus Diversity & Inclusion Plan. Collaboratively working with all institutional stakeholders – both internal and external, Dr. Archie spearheads the institution’s diversity and inclusion efforts for the near 81,000 students, faculty and staff. As an employee of the Office of Institutional Equity at HCC, his efforts are accompanied by the college’s Diversity & Inclusion Council.

Within the core of many educational institutions, diversity is a commercial tacit. While every institution cannot offer the same kind of diversity, the endorsement of such exists through various definitions. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges define diversity through the various classes: race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, disability, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and age (“Statement on Diversity”)

This opportunity welcomed me into a community fondly referred to as “Black NCSU.” At the African American Cultural Center, I was surrounded by love and support from both students and staff who wanted to see me succeed on campus. Having a community of intelligent and successful black staff members was an escape from the daily exhaustion of being black in a predominately white institution. Each microaggression was fuel for my intense fire to see a change on campus, which was representation. Representation is important because it gives those who come after us the motivation to strive for more: “I am because you are, you are therefore I am.” With this new motto in mind, I applied to be an Orientation Leader with New Student Programs. Fortunately, I was granted a position as one of six other African American students. Knowing how fortunate I was to have this opportunity I used my position as an Orientation Leader to welcome the class of 2020 to the university. However, I will acknowledge my own bias. I paid special attention to students and families of color as I wanted to be a familiar face to inform them of spaces for black students. I was further able to reinforce this familiarity as a Multicultural Symposium Counselor through Multicultural Student Affairs (MSA). MSA gave me a platform, a voice, to reach younger students of color and pass on the message of

The College embraces human diversity and is committed to affirmative action and equal opportunity. These commitments are moral imperatives consistent with an intellectual community that celebrates individual differences, diversity and meaningful individual freedom to pursue professional and educational goals.

This essay will be arguing that colleges and universities should promote more efforts to diversify and create equal representation of all students. Attending higher education institution for minorities has been an uneasy struggle and one that few minorities accomplish. The dilemma of African American enrollment for example, in a college lecture hall at Texas A&M containing 250 seats, only a maximum 4 out of 250 seats will contain African American students. Unfortunately, many institutions are similar to Texas A&M University, they have an underrepresentation of minorities their on campus in relationship to white students. The lack of diversity keeps stigmas associated with racism relevant and disregards the demographic representation of

Since its inception in 1987, the diversity program that was aiming to “link” academic excellence and social diversity at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor campus has shown some improvement in the number of their minority faculty members of tenured and

I immersed myself into Northwestern’s current state of diversity. I interviewed various employees and received valuable feedback regarding diversity in the organization’s culture. Additionally, I gained greater insight from a human resource representative. This person has acknowledged the organization has failed to implement a successful plan in the past. During my experience, I gathered three (3) key influencers that make diversity work: 1. train and hold managers accountable with the expectation that prevention and adherence to the policy is their responsibility. 2. implement and integrate a zero tolerance policy. 3. Requiring mandatory diversity training for all employees. The bottom line, be proactive in creating and implementing diversity initiatives and policies. It will have a great return on Northwestern’s investment. With this being said, the immersion experience changed my perspectives for the better. Initially, my personal views of the organization were multifaceted. I fought hard to instill a more diverse workplace within the organizational culture. Northwestern Medicine is the second largest healthcare corporation in the Chicagoland area with no minorities in executive leadership; I find this disturbing. In the final analysis, my thoughts regarding this organization has changed some but not significantly. However, after much scrutiny and employee persistence, CultureVision diversity initiatives will be reestablished. I learned how to incorporate my objectives for affective and personal development. In essence, diversity surrounds us every day. We as individuals, can make small changes in our behaviors to fully realize the advantages of diversity, so whether at work or in the community we can better learn from and innovate to make the world a better

A continuation of civil rights movement is no longer important to campus –diversity, simply because of moral obligation or rights. Diversity efforts are important in towards 31st century because they are fundamental to the building blocks to excellence and quality. Diversity is not only black and white it is, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, nationality, religion and many more combinations that make up a nation. (Williams & Wade-Golden, 2008, p. B44). Higher education are attempting to meet the needs of a diverse student population with a variety of services, support groups, educational programs, and co-curricular experiences, institutions. The demographics of this country have changed because of racial/ethnic minorities. Institutions of higher education have also witnessed increasingly diverse student populations which will continue to trend upward. (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2007). The purpose of this paper look at diversity as it relates to higher education.

• Implementing outreach and recruitment efforts to minority-serving institutions, and institutions with diverse student populations to promote the company’s mission, vision and functions.

What is diversity and what does it entail? Luther College defines diversity as “complex differences and similarities in perspectives, identities, and points of view among members of an institution as well as among individuals who make up the wider community.” Diversity has been a hot topic in today’s news and social networking arenas with the ever-changing race relations that are prevalent in our country and around the world. The changes in perception towards minorities and women hasn’t just affected these groups socially, but has brought forth different questions about the benefits that a truly diverse would place would have on companies. What this work will attempt to do is elaborate on the treatment of

Campus diversity cannot be a priority just for those who are hurt by a lack of it. The entire campus benefits from an array of viewpoints and backgrounds, and this can best be achieved through working together and communicating to improve the diversity climate on

Christopher, I agree with you that Diversity can have so many different categories. It is smart to remember that diversity means different things to different people, and organizations will apply those definitions to their companies respectively. It is crucial to hire and maintain a diverse workforce, so good diverse initiatives will be launched and maintained into the foreseeable future. There is much to learn from leaders in diversity and inclusion, but it is important to remember that every company’s diversity initiatives will look different. You should tailor your initiatives to address your specific industry and your company’s areas of weakness.

Commitment to diversity means obliging to being civilized throughout the university community. That means treating everyone with respect, irrespective of age, race, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or cultural background. We have to accept people for who and what they are. America is one of the most diverse nation in the world. Likewise, the University of Illinois at Chicago is also a well diverse institution, consisting of students and faculties from different racial background. After being bullied in high school and during my freshman year in college, just because of the way I spoke. I have learned not to treat people the way I was treated. I will develop my commitment to diversity by working with people with philosophies different

On a broader subject related to change, I also directed a Babson diversity initiative related to staff, faculty and student recruitment and retention and recognize that diversity is an issue in higher education that many institutions are grappling with. In March 2009 I was appointed to serve as a member of the Council for Inclusiveness and Community as well as the co-Chair of the Recruitment and Retention Committee. This Council and Committee were formed to create a more inclusive, diverse community on Babson College’s campus. I was very excited about this added exposure. Being actively engaged in the Council has and will enable me to influence change, this time on a larger campus-wide scale.