Highlighting the Value of Diversity in Acadamia
A mandate from the top down remains key to the successful implementation of diversity initiatives.
It is my belief that there remains much work to be done in the area of diversity and multiculturalism in higher education. In 2007, there continues to be any number of community colleges and four-year institutions that have yet to even acknowledge the reality that such a need exists.
Nevertheless, I am pleased to be a part of an innovative, progressive, two-year community college that is not only talking the talk but walking the walk on these issues.
Founded in 1967 during the peak of the civil rights movement, College of the Mainland is well grounded on the principles, values and ideals of an educational democracy, in which all persons will have access and equal ability to participate in the educational process.
This community-oriented, forward-looking community college district has made enormous strides in fostering awareness of and appreciation for diversity, multiculturalism and global interdependence in higher education.
As executive director and in-house counsel for our Office of Diversity & Equity, I am proud to be instrumental in one such area of development and achievement. My position was created in the fall of 2003 by C of M President Homer “Butch” Hayes to not only direct, coordinate and evaluate employee recruitment programs, but to support the college’s previously existing diversity initiatives. Within a year, our newly formed Diversity Council had developed and began implementing a three-year strategic diversity plan aimed at strengthening recruitment and hiring practices.
