Five honored for promoting diversity
Spending his senior year at an American high school in Turkey and his freshman year at a college in Nigeria changed the world view of Nick Eastmond, professor of instructional technology.
Eastmond’s foreign experiences influenced his outlook. At Utah State University, he teaches a class on race and communication in the United States and South Africa. He said most of the media about Africa is derogatory but there is a high demand for education, especially higher education.
Eastmond also coordinates international internships in his department.
“We have a tremendous opportunity with international students nearby to experience foreign cultures, talk to people from other places,” Eastmond said. “It is amazing, but you actually influence the next generation of people in these countries.”
Eastmond sees the important role international students play in a school as well as what they learn and take back with them.
He is one of five Diversity Award recipients presented Tuesday at the 10th annual University Diversity Awards Presentation. Recipient categories include administrator, faculty, staff, student and community member. The other recipients are Executive Vice President and Provost Stan L. Albrecht, Director of Women’s and Re-entry Student Center Janet Osborne, former Associated Students of USU Diversity Vice President Tiffany Leo and Hyrum City’s Strength and Diversity committee member Barbara Shidler.
Nominations for recipients were based on six criteria. The individual models behavior that promotes diversity, nourishes acceptance of individuals and strives to enhance academic, employment or community relations among people who are different. Individuals integrate diversity concepts and values into academic curriculum, management functions or community service. Nominees maximize opportunities to achieve diversity and develop methods for increasing and valuing diversity among students, staff, faculty and/or local businesses and associations.
The keynote speaker for the awards presentation, Vice President and Director of the Center for Advancement of Racial and Ethic Equality William B. Harvey, has conducted research focusing on cultural and social factors affecting underserved populations, particularly in college and university settings.
“Dr. Harvey’s message provides an opportunity for all of us to understand how critical it is for all people to receive a good education and become citizen scholars, so that they are better equipped to provide leadership for our country in the 21st century as we deal with increasingly complex issues,” said Sue Guenter-Schlesinger, director of the Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Office.
Award recipients contribute to the campus and community through various outlets.
Albrecht has worked to increase opportunities for women in areas where women are generally underrepresented, which included promoting women in his own office and supporting the recent hire of two women deans in the Colleges of Agriculture and Business.
Osborne helps returning students obtain higher education. In her class on the sociology of gender, she allows students to voice their opinions and look at issues from many points of view. Being aware and asking “what if” questions are a few ways Osborne learns to understand how others could view a situation differently.
Through the Women’s and Re-Entry Student Center, she provides opportunities to present hard social issues and create a dialog for people to begin to understand the whole array of possibilities, clarify their own framework and broaden their horizons about the issues.
Leo was the ASUSU’s first diversity vice president last year. She increased student awareness of diversity and culture. Building on the multicultural groups’ foundation, connecting them and creating a stronger backbone for diversity awareness were some of Leo’s major contributions to the campus.
Hyrum City’s first “Strength and Diversity” chair and current committee member, Barbara Shidler, provided welcome packets to city newcomers in Spanish. She arranged for Spanish interpreters to accompany Hispanic parents to attend parent-teacher conferences at local schools and assisted in computer technology grants to help Spanish speakers learn English.
Albrecht said he finds diversity important for two reasons: because it enhances education and prepares people for a world that is becoming more diverse.
“A growing body of empirical research shows learning in a diverse environment actually enhances the quality of the learning experience,” Albrecht said. “Our students need to be prepared to live and work in a world that may be quite different from that in which they grew up. Exposure to those who bring different backgrounds and experiences can be excellent preparation for what is ahead.”
Leo said, “Everyone is diverse. People are seeing diversity is a part of them, even if they don’t think they are diverse.”
Part of becoming an educated person is appreciating diversity, Osborne said – valuing diversity is a lifelong process of esteeming human rights and dignity.
Guenter-Schlesinger said, “Valuing diversity is imperative for all of us so we can understand how to live and work more productively together and benefit from the diverse backgrounds we all have. Diversity is an issue of inclusion, which is especially important in our global society that seems to be increasingly torn by those who would like to exclude or eradicate others based on differences.”
Osborne said, “While at the university, think about why we think about things the way we do. How can we promote solutions? It is important to find solutions to things that cause great problems because there is so much common ground to be found between people.”
Leo said diversity is a broad topic and goes beyond culture, race, gender, background; it includes ideas, thoughts, and personalities. She said she believes it is important to defy cultural stereotypes, to be the best you can be and not let anything stop you.
-lindseykay@cc.usu.edu