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A
Place For Everyone
Sonny Ago, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs,
looks at the recent student diversity conference and Barnard's
plans to launch a new diversity initiative
November
21, 2006—More than 150 student leaders and administrators
from nine liberal arts colleges around the country met on
Barnard's campus on November 17-19 for the third annual student
conference of the Consortium
on High Achievement and Success (CHAS). Hosted by Barnard
College's Office for Multicultural Affairs, these representatives,
which included a large Barnard contingent, will addressed
the topic, Promoting a Diverse Social and Cultural Campus
Life, through workshops and roundtable discussions by participating
scholars, activists, and administrators.
The decision
by Barnard's Office for Multicultural Affairs' to host this
year's CHAS
conference was part of the college's on-going commitment to
address diversity and inclusion; it also marked the launch
of a new diversity initiative, described below.
By meeting with students and administrators in this extended
network of select liberal arts institutions, shared concerns
will be examined in defining and developing best practices.
Beyond the common issues linking this year's attendees, every
participant brought unique challenges to address: developing
strategies for the recruitment and retention of underrepresented
students and methods to better support and empower marginalized
student groups, and identifying initiatives that will foster
inclusive campus communities.
CHAS was
established in 2000; its mission is to enhance campus diversity
as a way to ensure high achievement, develop leadership among
students, and contribute to their personal and academic satisfaction.
By cultivating inclusive and representative communities, the
hope is that students from diverse backgrounds will strive
harder to succeed throughout their college years. CHAS members
accomplish this in a number of ways: shared research, targeted
professionals' meetings, student conferences, and forums that
bring college presidents and chief academic officers together
to discuss such pertinent issues as the curriculum and classroom
pedagogy. The consortium of 34 private liberal arts colleges
and small universities is funded by the Nellie Mae Education
Foundation and is based at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Barnard is a founding member of the consortium, and Dean of
the College Dorothy Denburg is the group's current chairperson.
Barnard's
Office for Multicultural Affairs continues to evolve, and
this year's conference marked the start of another stage in
this office's expanding role on campus. Beyond the student
programs and support traditionally associated with multicultural
affairs offices on many college campuses, Barnard's office
is unique in that it also launches and facilitates discussions
about the "diversity" climate among the faculty,
trustees, and senior level administrators. These discussions
have a direct impact on institutional policy and practices.
During
the recent conference, Barnard's Multicultural Affairs staff
launched its new "sustained dialogues" initiative
to engage students further in discussions similar to the ones
developed for faculty and administrators. The conference's
workshops served as a model for what Barnard will implement
in the weeks and months to come.
—Sonny
Ago, Director, Office of Multicultural Affairs
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