Diversity event to be held Feb. 3
By Holli L. Rapp
A program called "Synergy From Others: Cultural Diversity on Campus" will be presented in the Cultural Centre Feb. 3 for students, faculty, and staff.
SST Communications, a Chicago based theater company, will perform a series of comedic and dramatic vignettes titled, "We Have Become the Same; Coke Adds Life; Imposter; Types; Five Steps to Manage Diversity; Ingredients; Teach; Forest for the Trees and Wendall Greene."
The presentation will be offered twice, at 11 a.m., and 2 p.m. with the series of vignettes lasting about 45 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of discussion.
This program is the first major activity sponsored by the Diversity Task Force chaired by Jerry Corcoran, Director of Human Resources.
Corcoran said the program was being offered and the task force organized because providing diversity training for faculty and staff is in the college’s Strategic Initiatives and promoting knowledge of human diversity is one of the Valued Practices of the college.
"With all of these references to the importance of diversity throughout our campus, we felt it was important to form a diversity task force that could recommend appropriate diversity-related activities and events as part of a coordinated plan for diversity training for the IVCC family," he said.
Corcoran defined "valuing diversity" as "recognizing, understanding and respecting the wide variety of differences among Americans, such as race, religion, ethnic origin and gender."
"A true learning environment is diverse," he said, "integrating people of various cultural, ethnic, political and philosophical backgrounds into a college community."
Members of the Diversity Task Force are Kim Abel, Fran Brolley, Paula Hallock, Jamie Lemmer, Mary Lou Meader, Kathy Sramek, Dr. Frank Zeller, and Corcoran.
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