Event weaves together students, faculty of color

University students, staff and faculty congregated outside the EMU Ballroom eagerly awaiting the 6:15 p.m. opening of the event.

The room radiated with a maroon hue accented with color-coordinated tablecloths, chairs and curtains. Prior to the opening speech by University President Dave Frohnmayer, guests were treated to a wide variety of appetizers, including chicken wings, fruit, veggies, mini-quiches and meatballs. People ate and circulated through the crowd of mingling faculty, staff and students. Chatter and violinists created background noise, followed by a slow-tempo Hawaiian theme dance that excited a cheering crowd.

Thursday night's 10th annual Weaving New Beginnings celebration was an effort to welcome faculty, staff and students of color and their allies to the University. This year's theme was "Cultivating Strong Roots to Grow Strong Communities." The event featured speeches, "ice-breaker" activities where people met each other, a live salsa band and appetizers. Frohnmayer began the event with a short opening speech.

"It's always a real joy to greet this group; I'm glad this can be a friendly place to get to know people better," Frohnmayer said. He went on to define diversity as "identity within community" and said that diversity is never really done.

"We need to remind ourselves that until 50 years ago it was legal to say that people of different colors had to go to different schools," he said.

Frohnmayer's speech was followed by keynote speaker Johnny Lake, a graduate teaching fellow in the Department of Educational Leadership.

"How seriously do we take the opportunity to make a strong community?" Lake asked. "We have the opportunity to build a very strong and diverse community, but it will only happen if we do it."

In an attempt to better diversify the University campus, the University hired Dr. Gregory Vincent as the vice provost of Institutional Equity and Diversity.

"This is an absolutely wonderful and encouraging event," Vincent said.

Since beginning work in December, Vincent said he's seen an increase in diversity on campus.

"Student groups are stronger, and out of 180 students, 40 of the first-year law students are of color and three faculty of color have been hired in the Honors College," Vincent said. "That means that progress is being made.

"I did this work in a similar role at Louisiana State University, and as a result of our effort we became the biggest producer of African American Ph.D.s in chemistry and English," Vincent added.

ASUO Multicultural Advocate Maria Cortez said preparing for the event has been very time consuming.

"We've been planning for three months, and a lot of different people from different organizations have given to the event," Cortez said. "We tried to get as many people as possible involved with the planning process."

A number of organizations, including the ASUO Multicultural Center, ASUO Women's Center and the Center on Diversity and Community were involved with putting on the event, along with a few dozen other sponsors.

"The goal is for incoming students, especially of color, to learn about the resources available on campus," Cortez said. "It gives people a chance to get to know each other."

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