The History of the Diversity in Culture Task Force at 澳门皇家赌城在线大学
The Diversity in Culture Task Force began in late Fall 2013 as an Ad Hoc group of concerned faculty, 工作人员, and administrators participating in the 专业发展 Advisory Group at the campus. As 专业发展 leaders we felt it was part of our responsibility to develop the culture of the campus for our students, and all on the campus that support students. We believed that a major element of the culture we wanted to develop was an appreciation for the wide range of diversity our campus serves. Not only to serve the various ethnic cultures but also cultures such as our 退伍军人, 女性, 男人, those with Physical and Emotional Challenges that may also create Learning Challenges, Returning students that are Parents, 培养青年, 男女同性恋文化, 和更多的. Our goal was, and is, to be all inclusive.
From our first meeting forward we developed the idea that appreciation of the various cultures is best accomplished through education, 意识, 和庆祝. With this foundation of thought we began to gather the various people that were already working toward this end across our campus. This included our faculty, classified 工作人员, and administrators. Our founding members were already working towards this goal by offering lectures, 以及诸如, 音乐会, 电影节, 妇女历史月讲座, Black History Month lectures and events, 亡灵节庆祝活动, 塞萨尔·查韦斯庆典, 马丁·路德·金纪念活动, 提高自闭症意识, 退伍军人, 对印度文化的认识, 中国, 墨西哥, 阿兹特克, 和更多的. We also decided that all elements that assist our campus cultures 意识 of a quality life were a part of the 意识 and appreciation that we wanted to promote. 因此, 我们邀请了地球日的庆祝者, 健康与健康博览会, 三思而后行活动, and the Psychology Student Club’s Domestic Violence Awareness event. Each of these events is free, and open to the full campus and the community.
Our group of like-minded founders soon realized that this task was far more than an Ad Hoc group. It was the beginning of a foundational element of respect and pride in the diversity of our campus. Although the college and state of California was deep in an economic downturn, our President, Dr. Greg Gillespie recognized the value of this vision. He found a small amount of funds to support our cause and vision. We took his support as evidence that we needed to build a solid task force that would continue well beyond the founding members. 我们设计了一个标志, 一个任务, 一套目标, and began a web site with a resource listing of the events. We became a hub for supporting the promotion of the various events. We became a family of supporters, where previously there was none.
At the end of our first year we were able to expand the offerings on the campus, by creating a Spanish Heritage Celebration one day event. This event was developed over the summer of 2014 to be offered shortly after the start of the Fall Semester 2014. This inaugural event schedule was developed by devoted core founding members, 五月二十六日, 罗伯特E. 劳森，本杰明·索莫扎. 格温多林·刘易斯·哈德尔斯顿. A few dedicated classified 工作人员 were key to launching and supported the production and promotion of this event; Eileen Crumb, 桑迪梅森, 莎拉Murillo, 和萨布丽娜·卡诺拉. By our third year 2016 this group is succeeding in its mission. The original listing of activities is still supported. However, in April 2016 the full membership of the group is working together to offer its first 文化节的多样性.
The Diversity in Culture Task Force of 澳门皇家赌城在线大学 is a testament to the power of a few like-minded but culturally diverse people gathering to create something greater than they could possibly do alone.
This quote expresses the accomplishments of this group.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world;
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
玛格丽特·米德