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Diversity Leadership Summit
June 11-12, 2008
Emory University
Atlanta. GA
A Diversity Leadership Summit was held at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga, June 11-12, 2008 to look at next steps and plan for the future. Forty-five participants from 10 institutions attended the summit. Academic Deans, Deans of Students, Diversity Directors (some institutions refer to them as Multicultural Directors) and two multicultural students from each campus attended. The ACS Presidents also joined in for part of the summit.
The summit opened with an informal dinner, during which students, staff and administrators discussed the diversity climate on their campuses. Students created a list of their concerns and topics for discussion and a lively discussion ensued. The next day, there was an overview of the 30 grants awarded and a synopsis of programs that have taken place. Best practices in diversity programming and minority graduation rates across the ACS were shared. Diverse faculty and student recruitment and retention efforts were discussed. Results of a Furman study on diversity offices and the levels of diversity funding across ACS were presented.
The Presidents joined the summit and responded to various questions posed by students. The results of our consortium-wide diversity survey were presented by David Taylor, a diversity consultant and former academic dean at Morehouse College. The report discussed the challenges and successes in what is currently occurring on our campuses, and made suggestions for next steps for the institutions and for the consortium. One of the suggestions was that the consortium create a five year Diversity Action Plan. An integral part of the plan would be to seek funds to support the institutionalization of Diversity Offices on every campus and to offer workshops to bring diversity directors together for increased networking, problem solving and sharing of ideas. The plan will also include the continuation of small groups of diverse students meeting with the ACS deans three times each year. The plan will keep us moving forward with the initiative and help us set a course for the future. To keep the progress going, the diversity directors will meet at Southwestern University, September 19-20 to draft the plan.
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