COMMUNITY AWARENESS OF DIVERSITY

We often invite communities in Southeastern Massachusetts, as well as, collaborate with other organizations to celebrate and explore with us issues of inclusion and diversity. Some of these activities are offered every year while others are special events. What follows are a sampling of the programs and activities that UMass Dartmouth has offered to promote inclusion and diversity during the 2006-2007 academic year:

• Educational Youth Programs � The following youth education programs provide opportunity for children and teens in grades 6 � 9 to gain training in theater arts and marketing development. Eighty percent of the student populations are students of color.
• The Youth Experiencing (Y.E.S) Program � funded by the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education (formerly H.E.C.C.). The program was funded on the basis of recruiting only African�American and Latino (Hispanic) individuals. Students from all three of the New Bedford Junior High Schools are participants. This program is distinguished from the previously described program by the intense science and mathematical components.
• Safe Neighborhood Initiative (SNI) �The program assists out-of-school youth who are between 16 and 21 years of age to gain a high school diploma or GED. The program also offers job matching and training to prepare for gainful employment.
• TEACH! SouthCoast � an accelerated post-baccalaureate urban teacher preparation pathway to obtain a MA initial license for teaching math or science. This full-time, one year option integrates the required coursework and student teaching through an on-site partnership with New Bedford and Fall River. The Recruitment Team is representative of the multi-ethnic populations in these two cities. An important component of the recruitment plan is outreach to organizations including Frederick Douglas Center, the Martha Briggs Society, Latino Access Center, Prince Henry Society (Portuguese) & Cape Verdean Scholarship Association.
• Connecting Oceans Academy � 3 year professional development program funded by the Education through Cultural Organizations (ECHO) grant which provides culturally-based educational programs & cultural exchanges in partnership with the Native and non-Native communities and cultural institutions in Alaska, Hawaii and Massachusetts.
• The UMass Dartmouth Labor Education Center sponsored a conference on the “Future of Work in Southeastern Massachusetts”, in which they partnered with YouthBuild, an organization devoted to work with youth in the region, to provide a major workshop on youth, their communities and the need to organize and work for change.
• Martin Luther King Breakfast and Drum Major Award � A breakfast is hosted on campus in which faculty, staff and students, along with members of the surrounding communities, come together to memorialize the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Drum Major Award was created by Chancellor MacCormack to acknowledge annually the contributions of both campus and community leaders who work diligently and the award honors individuals who have made significant contributions toward realizing Dr. King’s dream of equality, social justice, and peace. In 2006, the featured speaker was Salome Thomas-EL. Mr. Thomas-EL, a nationally recognized educator and a principal at John F. Reynolds Elementary School in the city of Philadelphia, has motivated hundreds of inner city students in Philadelphia to finish high school and pursue university studies. He received national acclaim as a teacher and chess coach at Vaux Middle School, where his students have gone on to win world recognition as Eight-Time National Chess Champions. He is the author of the best-selling book, I Choose to Stay and the Immortality of Influence.
• Hosted and chaired the 24th annual Conference of the Student Organizations Against
• Racism (SOAR) Crossing Borders & Building Bridges. This conference successfully
• attracted more than 160 students and facilitators from nine colleges in New England.
• Sponsored the International Women's Day (March 8) to celebrate a "global day
• connecting all women around the world and inspiring them to achieve their full potential".
• Sponsored two regional conferences, one Symposium and a Chancellor Colloquium
• centered on Violence and Girlhood to promote a dialogue and information sharing among disparate academics, providers, policy makers and advocates. Two conferences (held in May 2005) focused on Girls in the Social Margins, Girls in Conflict with the Law. The symposium (held in May 2006) focused on Girls and Society. The Colloquium (held on April 2007) focused on providing a multidisciplinary perspective to the research conducted by Professor Robin Robinson of the Sociology Department.
• The UMass Dartmouth Center for University, School, and Community Partnerships
• (CUSP), in collaboration with the Teacher Leadership Academy of Massachusetts, hosted a Distinguished Educators Series in May, 2007 for university professors and teachers from various school systems in the region. The main speaker and workshop leader was Dr. Ladson-Billings, Kellner Family Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and former President of the American Educational Research Association. She is the author of several highly acclaimed books on culturally relevant teaching. Her books include The Dream Keepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children and Crossing Over to Canaan: The Journey of New Teachers in Diverse Classrooms.
• UMass Dartmouth, in conjunction with other universities in the region, attended a
• conference Focus on the Future: Strategies, Actions and Alliances held in November 2006 at Northeastern University and sponsored by various colleges and universities along with the College Board. The conference presented an opportunity for UMass Dartmouth faculty and staff to gather with other leaders and professionals in other universities in New England to discuss common issues, as well as, to share best practices.