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2010-2011 Diversity Committee Meeting Minutes

Minutes of University Diversity Committee

December 8, 2010

The fourth University Diversity Committee meeting of the 2010-2011 academic year took place on December 8, 2010 in the Board of Trustees Conference Room. Dr. Maria Santamarina called the meeting to order at approximately 2:05 p.m. The following committee members attended the meeting:

Discussions

First Topic - The Cultural Immersion Experiences of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Students. Dr. Sandra Gibson, Assistant Professor of Nursing at the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, spoke about the cultural immersion program she coordinates at the College of Nursing to enhance cultural competence skills for doctoral students ( DNP) and faculty. Dr. Gibson is a native Miamian.  Her  nursing experience spans over 25 years in a variety of health and educational settings that include hospitals, administration, ambulatory care centers, schools, private industry, vocational education, and higher education. She currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, and coordinates immersion experiences to enhance cultural competence skills for doctoral students (DNP) and faculty. She maintains a nursing practice in sexual and physical assault for children and adults with a primary focus in adolescent health. Her most recent publication is: “Preventing Re-traumatization of Abused Children Through The Caring Nursing Interview using Roach’s Six C’s” in the International Journal of Human Caring. Her primary research focus is Violence Prevention in young adults. Dr. Gibson has most recently been selected to receive a research award grant to complete her current research entitled “ Interpersonal Violence Among Late Adolescent African- American Males”  from the International Society of Psychiatric Nursing  (ISPN).

Second Topic – The Race & Change Initiative: A Multimedia Approach to Race Relations. Dr. Kitty Oliver, Director of the Race & Change Initiative and adjunct professor of oral history writing and race and ethnicity within the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, spoke about her multi-media approach to race relations. The Race and Change Initiative promotes a 21st Century discussion of race and differences in our collective American past and present in cross-cultural public forums through the innovative use of archival oral history interviews, video and Web radio programs, and creative performance presentations. The project includes audio-taped and videotaped interviews collected for the historical Race and Change Oral Histories archive and has spawned Race and Change university courses and community action workshops. The historical archive has grown to over 125 interviews with baby boomers – U.S. born and immigrants - who came of age with the Civil Rights Movement as well as interviews in Ghana, West Africa. It is the only collection of its kind and scope in the U.S. where the life histories of a cross-cultural group of everyday people are preserved and where they reflect candidly on race relations experiences over the years and how society and they have changed. In these stories Florida history, U.S. history and international perspectives converge. This site features audio and video excerpts from the historical Race and Change Oral Histories and televised productions, and commentaries on progress in race and ethnic relations. The discussion of Race and Change is a model for talking about differences in a non-confrontational, inclusive way and for talking about racial progress in a hopeful way which helps us move forward as a society as we search for solutions to social problems. Through television productions, Webcast radio programs, books, and other educational materials, sensitive issues are addressed, using the personal story to reach a wide audience, touch hearts, and spark new levels of dialogue.

Third Topic- Black History Month . Ingrid Jones advised committee members on the activities planned for Black History Month. Maria Santamarina invited committee members to attend the next Heritage Month Planning Committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday, December 15, which meeting will facilitate the planning of Black History Month events and activities.

Fourth Topic- Spirituality in the Black Community. Maria Santamarina invited committee members to the Interfaith Committee’s next panel discussion entitled “Spirituality in the Black Community” on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Hillel’s Levine Wienberger Jewish Life Center on the Boca Raton campus. This unique dialogue session will include panelists from a wide number of traditions who will explore and celebrate the many ways in which spiritual seekers of African descent have discovered and continue to embody the life of the spirit in the Americas.  

Fifth Topic - Women’s History Month. Josephine Beuku-Betts announced that the Third Annual Women’s Leadership Forum is scheduled for March 18, 2011 and that the Women’s Consortium is scheduled for April 1 & April 2, 2011.

Sixth Topic – LGBTQA Resource Center : Jenna Beckwith announced the opening of FAU’s LGBTQA Resource Center.

Dr. Maria Santamarina adjourned the meeting at approximately 3:30 p.m. The next Diversity Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 19th at 2:00 p.m. at the BOT Conference Room, which is located on the third floor of the Administration Building.

 

November 16, 2010

The third University Diversity Committee meeting of the 2010-2011 academic year took place on November 16, 2010 in the Board of Trustees Conference Room.  Dr. Maria Santamarina called the meeting to order at approximately 2:05 p.m.  The following committee members attended the meeting:

Discussions

First Topic:  Terence McCorry, Director of Campus & Young Adult Ministry and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) informed committee members about CRS’ Global Fellows Speakers Tour and how FAU can collaborate with CRS to bring speakers to campus.  Mr. McCorry advised us that CRS is currently planning a speaker tour consisting of representatives from CRS Haiti during mid-March to mid-April and that we can schedule the Haiti representatives to speak at FAU.   There is no honorarium attached to these speakers as long as we collaborate with CRS.  From the unique perspective of personal stories, CRS' National Speaker Tour puts a spotlight on the major humanitarian challenges facing our world today. Visiting parishes, secondary schools, universities and public forums, CRS' speakers bring a vivid understanding of the realities and opportunities in the work being done to strengthen communities and improve lives around the world. These speakers have first-hand knowledge on the issues that affect families and communities in the developing world as they are on the ground combating hunger, disease, injustice.  CRS speakers can help students understand other cultures around the world as well as issues of poverty, injustice and peace.  They can also raise awareness on campus about such issues as the Darfur crisis in Sudan, migration, HIV and AIDS and other critical problems facing the poor and vulnerable around the world.  Committee members agreed to collaborate with CRS on bringing their Global Fellows Speakers to FAU.  Maria Santamarina will thus work with Mr. McCorry to facilitate this collaboration and schedule the speakers.

Past CRS Speakers have included:

Second Topic:   Mya Eaton, Daniel Hummel and Boris Bastidas (Interfaith Student Leaders) advised committee members about their experience at the White House Interfaith Leadership Institute and then explained their plan to roll out an Interfaith Student Initiative at FAU as follows: 

  1. Student leaders will formally create the Student Interfaith Council to launch the What If…Awareness Campaign and Speak-In to get students thinking about what has happened as a result of people of various religions and philosophical traditions working together for the common good and what could happen if that diversity was taken up today to fuel social action.
  2. Student leaders will reach out to all student faith based groups, student clubs and service based student organizations for membership on the Council to roll out the interfaith social action campaign and then to tackle a social issue that matters to the campus and to prove the power of interfaith cooperation.

Third Topic :  Ingrid Jones advised committee members on the activities planned for Native American Heritage Month.  Maria Santamarina invited committee members to attend the next Heritage Month Planning Committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday, November 30th , which meeting will start the planning of Black History Month events and activities.

Fourth Topic :  Maria Santamarina advised committee members that a sub-committee had been formed to bring Twesigye Jackson Kaguri to FAU in February to speak with our students regarding his efforts in Uganda and the Nyaka Aids Orphan School.   Maria Santamarina then invited committee members to join the sub-committee in a short meeting following this Diversity Committee meeting.  Currently the following committee members agreed to serve on this sub-committee:  Cathie Wallace, Julie Servoss, Jeff Krebs, Jenna Beckwith, Mate Thitsawat, Jean Caldieron, Ingrid Jones, Naelys Diaz, Brenda Simmons, and Maria Santamarina.  The next Jackson Kaguri sub-committee is scheduled for Wednesday, December 8th at 1:00 p.m.

Fifth Topic :  Maria Santamarina reported that the 2010 Diversity Summit was a great success.  The summit, titled “One Planet, One Tribe,” was designed to raise participants’ awareness of the many perspectives that make up worldviews; provide an opportunity to examine issues impacting the diverse communities; and supply applicable tools and strategies to participants to take action in order to improve the world.  The summit also engaged participants in dynamic discussions about complex issues related to not only race, but a host of other cultural, social and personal identities.  There were over 200 students, faculty and staff from FAU, Nova, Barry, Lynn, FIU, Florida Memorial and Broward College in attendance.  Also in attendance were the following community based organizations:  Amnesty International, No More Tears, UN Women, Food for the Poor, Work and Action, One Planet United, SOA Watch, Organizing Cities Activist Network/Power U, Peace Alliance, Peace Corps, Safe Schools South Florida, AAUW, Catalyst for Justice, Hope, Inc., Broward Diversity Advisory Council, The Culture Company, and Broward County School.  We are currently planning for a 2-day Diversity Summit for next year. 

Dr. Maria Santamarina adjourned the meeting at approximately 3:10 p.m.  The next Diversity Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 8th at 2:00 p.m. at the BOT Conference Room, which is located on the third floor of the Administration Building.


Minutes of University Diversity Committee
October 27, 2010

The second University Diversity Committee meeting of the 2010-2011 academic year took place on October 27, 2010 in the Board of Trustees Conference Room.  Dr. Maria Santamarina called the meeting to order at approximately 2:05 p.m.  The following committee members attended the meeting:

Discussions

First Topic : Jeff Krebs informed committee members about Twesigye Jackson Kaguri and the Nyaka Aids Orphans School in Uganda.  He advised us that Twesigye Jackson Kaguri grew up in rural southwestern Uganda and graduated from Makerere University in Kampala. Jackson, as Krebs calls him, has been actively involved with nonprofit organizations since 1992. In Uganda, Mr. Kaguri co-founded the human rights organization Human Rights Concerns, to help victims of human rights violations in Uganda and to educate the public about their rights.  Jackson came to the United States more than eight years ago as a visiting scholar studying human rights advocacy at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. Since that time, Jackson has been involved extensively in international community efforts as a Programs Assistant for People's Decade for Human Rights Education (PDHRE International-New York) and as a volunteer for various nonprofit organizations. He was instrumental in drafting resolutions that were adopted at the United Nations Youth International Conference held in Braga, Portugal, in 1998. 

In 2003, Jackson founded the Nyaka Aids Orphans School after his brother died of HIV/AIDS.  This project has lifted the entire community.  As of this date, 47 students have graduated from Nyaka with standardized test scores ranking among the highest in Uganda.  Most of the children are entering secondary school to pursue careers in teaching, nursing, law and medicine.  Jackson currently serves as the Director of the Nyaka and Kutamba Schools for HIV/AIDS Orphans in Uganda and  is the co-author of The Price of Stones, Building a School for My Village (Viking, June 14, 2010), with Susan Urbanek Linville.  After watching a brief film clip on Jackson and his work in Uganda, at http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,89822614001_1994042,00.html, committee members voted to bring Jackson to FAU to speak with our students regarding his efforts in Uganda and Nyaka Aids Orphan School.  The following committee members expressed an interest in participating in a sub-committee to organize events for Jackson on campus:  Brenda Simmons, Naelys Diaz, Mate Thitisawat and Maria Santamarina.  Jeff advised us that Cathie Wallace, Director of FAU’s Student Health Services, is also interested in bringing Jackson to FAU.

Second Topic :  Jane Tierney, CEO from Catalyst for Justice, invited committee members to the Racial Profiling Symposium entitled “Rethinking” Racially Biased Policing: A Science-Based Perspective with Lorie Fridell, Ph.D., scheduled for Friday, November 12th from 8:00 to Noon at the Marleen & Harold Forkas Alumni Center at FAU’s Boca campus.  This event is co-sponsored by the Diversity Committee. 

Dr. Fridell is an Associate Professor of Criminology from the University of South Florida in Tampa.  She brings a new perspective to the issue of racially biased policing—a perspective based on the social psychological research on human biases.  While some of the bias in policing is likely caused by intentional discrimination against people of color and other groups, the research points to another mechanism producing biased behavior. Social psychologists have shown that “implicit” or “unconscious” bias can impact what people perceive and do, even in people who consciously hold non-prejudiced attitudes.  From this research, we can conclude that even the best law enforcement officers may manifest bias because they are human, and even the best agencies will have biased policing because they hire humans to do the work. The implication of the research on human biases is that all law enforcement agencies need to proactively produce fair and impartial policing.  Dr. Fridell has developed what she calls a “comprehensive program for producing fair and impartial policing” that addresses:  (1) recruitment and hiring; (2) training; (3) policy; (4) leadership, supervision and accountability; (5) outreach to diverse communities; (6) measurement; and (7) assessment of institutional policies and practices.

In her presentation on November 12th, Dr. Fridell will share the research on human biases and discuss the implications of that research for (1) the police-community discussion of the issue and (2) agency efforts to produce fair and impartial policing.

Third Topic : Daniel Hummel, FAU’s Interfaith Student Leader, spoke to committee members about his trip to Washington D.C.  from October 24th through November 26th  for the White House Interfaith Leadership Institute  led by Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core (www.ifyc.org) and hosted by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and Georgetown University’s Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs in Washington D.C.

The Interfaith Leadership Institute was an intensive training designed to give student leaders and campus staff the vision, knowledge and skills necessary to make interfaith cooperation and the promotion of interreligious understanding a priority on campuses across the US. The Institute trained 150 student leaders from throughout the United States and Europe to apply their skills through the Interfaith Youth Core’s “Better Together” campaign for interfaith cooperation.  Mr. Hummel also advised committee members that on October 25th, student leaders and campus staff attended a session at the White House entitled Advancing Interfaith Leadership on College and University Campuses. This session included speakers such as Mara Vanderslice, Senior Policy Advisor for the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Joshua DuBois, Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, John Kelly, Director for Strategic Partnerships from the Corporation for National and Community Service, John DeGioia, President of Georgetown University and Eboo Patel, President and Founder of Interfaith Youth Core. 

Fourth Topic : Co-Chair Maria Santamarina announced that the South Florida Diversity Alliance (SFDA) will host its second annual Diversity Summit on Saturday, October 30 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Nova Southeastern University, Carl DeSantis Building, 3301 College Ave., Fort Lauderdale.  The summit, titled “One Planet, One Tribe,” is designed to raise participants’ awareness of the many perspectives that make up worldviews; provide an opportunity to examine issues impacting the diverse communities; and supply applicable tools and strategies to participants to take action in order to improve the world.  The summit also engages participants in dynamic discussions about complex issues related to not only race, but a host of other cultural, social and personal identities. 

Headlining the summit, “The New Faces of America,” is a one-woman show in which one actor plays seven different characters.  This act depicts what it is like for college students to live and thrive in a multicultural America. 

The SFDA is sponsored by Florida Atlantic University, Nova Southeastern University, Lynn University and Amnesty International, and also includes representation from Barry University.  The focal purpose of this summit is to provide an opportunity to examine issues impacting the diverse community in South Florida. SFDA wants participants to come out and discuss topics that are considered off limits in parts of society and then strategize different ways to improve these areas.  The SDFA seeks to unite the higher education community in South Florida to support and promote diversity awareness, competence and inclusion.  High school, undergraduate and graduate students, staff, faculty, department chairs, deans, alumni, and interested members of the extended higher education community are invited to participate. 

Fifth Topic : Juan Izaguirre, Director of Multicultural Affairs and Pre College Programs, advised committee members of the events scheduled for Native American Heritage Month.

Dr. Maria Santamarina adjourned the meeting at approximately 3:10 p.m.  The next Diversity Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 16th at 2:00 p.m. at the BOT Conference Room, which is located on the third floor of the Administration Building.


Minutes of University Diversity Committee

September 22, 2010


The first University Diversity Committee meeting of the 2010-2011 academic year took place on September 22, 2010 in the Board of Trustees Conference Room.  Dr. Maria Santamarina called the meeting to order at approximately 2:10 p.m.  The following twenty-two committee members attended the meeting:

Discussions

Chad Thilborger, VP of Development & Corporate Education at Stonewall Library Museum Archive gave an informational presentation on the Library and its resources. Founded in 1973, Stonewall is one of the nation’s leading gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) resources.  In addition to a library with more than 25,000 circulating volumes, Stonewall continues to build an extensive archive, and its museum is one of the only permanent spaces in the United States devoted to the display of exhibitions relating to GLBT culture and history.  Stonewall houses at least ten changing exhibitions each year that are available to be shown at universities, non-profit organizations and corporations across the United States. The exhibitions cover a number of different topics and are available to meet the needs of various types and sizes of venues.  Their goal is to bring GLBT history to as many communities as they can.  Thilborger advised Diversity Committee members to collaborate with him on GLBT History Month in October.

Announcements



Dr. Maria Santamarina adjourned the meeting at approximately 3:30 p.m.



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