The National Diversity Council will present the first Multicultural Diversity Summit, a day-long conference centered on the theme “Community Building: A call to Action,” on Oct. 14 from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Debra Nixon, professor in the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, said she chose this theme because it is her crusade to tell everyone of the commonality of human kind.
“The theme has to do with that we’re all one people and one race and to ensure that there is no such thing as race, except the human race,” said Nixon.
The conference will feature break–out sessions about diversity and inclusion. At 1 p.m., guest speaker, Cornel West, Ph.D., professor of religion and African American studies at Princeton University, will discuss how race matters, the illusion of race and the power of racism.
“West is a great mind and appeals to a lot of people,” said Nixon. “He has a very afro centric presentation, but also a popular presentation because he is a scholar. He appeals to everybody and is widely accepted.”
Nixon hopes the panel discussions and West’s presentation will help attendees see the value in difference and will help them work together and think about how they can use their diverse abilities to help create a community that everyone benefits from.
“Not a lot of people know that or want to believe that we are one race because they want division and competition, but that is divisive. It’s caused a lot of people pain on both sides, the side of the marginalized and the privileged,” said Nixon. “We want to bring a voice to that and begin to change the way we deal with each other.”
Nixon believes holding the conference on a college campus is important and will help promote difference because thought is born on college campuses. Nixon also hopes to foster this initiative with Do Something Different, a movement on campus that focuses on how to show that differences don’t divide people.
If students, faculty and staff cannot attend the conference, Do Something Different is a great way to get involved with diversity and inclusion and to start thinking differently about what it means to be different, said Nixon.
The conference costs $69 per person and includes breakout sessions and lunch. Attendees can either register online or at 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 14.
