Creating a Diversity Movement in the University

What kind of actions can a university take to create a diversity movement within its confines? Taking recent work at North Carolina State University as the prototype, this session will be used to outline and discuss the characteristics of administrative action that can lead to a comprehensive and programmatic diversity movement within any college or university.

African American and Teaching in Higher Education IS a Course on Race and Culture

Using theoretical applications, the authors present an overview of theories that highlight approaches for teaching culturally sensitive content, personal experiences as educator and colleague in a predominantly white college campus and strategies for addressing culturally insensitive experiences in and outside the classroom. Presenters focus on the recruitment and retention of people of color and stress the need for today's predominantly white institutions to become more knowledgeable, tolerant and sensitive about their environments in an effort to make them more accepting.

The Importance of Affirmative Action in the 21st Century: Building Transformational Alliances with Constituencies Across the Power Structure for Scholars, Students and Staff of Color at Predominantly European American Institutions.

The purpose of this session is to reject the notion that proactive Affirmative Action strategic plans are no longer needed at predominantly European American Institutions. Data reveal an inverse relationship between creating successful strategic plans for inclusion and negative reactions from the power structure.

In Pursuit of Brain Compatible Intimate Relationships

This session comprises a highly interactive and creative format designed to provide a maximum of information and conceptual integration regarding human relationships. The presentation style embodies creativity and scholarly intent that leads the audience through brain and contextual processes that severely limit or lovingly spiritually enhance male/female relationships.

Black Faculty Recruitment and Retention in the Voices of Black Faculty

“Black faculty focus groups explored major issues and concerns, examined awareness levels of Black faculty, and identified factors that have positive impact on recruitment and retention efforts.”

Community Life and Housing in Rural Nebraska: 2005 Nebraska Rural Poll Results

Many rural communities are experiencing population decline. However, rural residents have continued to show a strong attachment to their communities. How do rural Nebraskans feel about their community? Are they satisfied with the services provided? Do they own their home? What is the condition of their home? This report details 2,851 responses to the 2005 Nebraska Rural Poll, the tenth annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about their community and housing. Trends for some of these questions are examined by comparing data from the nine previous polls to this year’s results. For all questions, comparisons are made among different respondent subgroups, that is, comparisons by age, occupation, region, etc. Based on these analyses, some key findings emerged: Rural Nebraskans’ views of the change in their community are similar to those expressed last year. This year, 28 percent believe their community has changed for the better, compared to 26 percent last year. And, in 2005, only 20 percent think their community has changed for the worse, compared to 22 percent last year. The proportion of expected movers who plan to leave the state decreased this year. Last year, 56 percent of the persons planning to move from their community expected to leave the state. That proportion decreased to 47 percent this year. Rural Nebraskans living in or near the largest communities are more likely than persons living in or near the smaller communities to say their community has changed for the better. Thirty-nine percent of persons living in or near communities with populations of 10,000 or more believe their community has changed for the better during the past year, but only 15 percent of persons living in or near communities with less than 500 people share this opinion. The community services and amenities that rural Nebraskans are most dissatisfied with include: entertainment, retail shopping and restaurants. At least one-third of rural Nebraskans express dissatisfaction with these three services. They are most satisfied with parks and recreation, library services, basic medical care services, highways and bridges, and education (K - 12). At least one-half of rural Nebraskans are satisfied with the following items in their community: appearance of residential areas (66%), crime control (61%), maintenance of sidewalks and public areas (57%) and noise (54%). Rural Nebraskans generally have positive views about their community. Sixty percent agree that their community is an ideal place to live and 52 percent say their community has good business leaders. Rural Nebraskans have mixed opinions about the future of their community. Fortyfour percent agree that their community’s future looks bright, but 42 percent disagree with this statement. Fourteen percent have no opinion. Rural Nebraskans living in or near the larger communities are more likely than residents of the smaller communities to think their community’s future looks bright. Fifty-nine percent of persons living in or near communities with populations of 10,000 or more agree with this statement, compared to only 25 percent of residents living in or near communities with less than 500 people. Further, 61 percent of the residents of the smallest communities disagree with this statement, compared to only 28 percent of the residents of the largest communities. Over three-quarters of rural Nebraskans disagree that younger residents of their community tend to stay there after completing high school. Seventy-six percent disagree with this statement, 16 percent have no opinion and eight percent agree that younger residents stay after completing high school. When comparing responses by age, younger persons are more likely than older persons to agree that younger residents stay in their community after high school. Sixteen percent of persons age 19 to 29 agree with this statement, compared to only six percent of persons age 50 to 64. Younger persons are more likely than older persons to be planning to move from their community next year. Fifteen percent of persons between the ages of 19 and 29 are planning to move next year, compared to only two percent of persons age 65 and older. An additional 17 percent of the younger respondents indicate they are uncertain if they plan to move. Most rural Nebraskans own their home. Eighty-four percent of rural Nebraskans own their home. Older persons are more likely than younger persons to own their home. Eighty-eight percent of persons over the age of 50 own their home, compared to only 52 percent of persons age 19 to 29. Housing in rural Nebraska has an average age of 50 years. Twenty-four percent of residences were built before 1930. Another 24 percent were built between 1930 and 1959. Twenty-nine percent were built between 1960 and 1979 and the remaining 24 percent were built in 1980 or later. The housing stock in smaller communities is older than the housing located in larger communities. Over one-third (35%) of the residences in communities with less than 1,000 people were built before 1930. Only 12 percent of the homes in communities with populations of 10,000 or more were built in this time period. Most rural Nebraskans appear satisfied with their home. Only 24 percent say the current size of their home does not meet their needs. The same proportion (24%) say their home is in need of major repairs. Thirty-eight percent agree that their home needs a lot of routine maintenance, but 87 percent like the location (neighborhood) of their home. One-third of rural Nebraskans living in or near the smallest communities say their home is in need of major repairs. Only 19 percent of persons living in or near communities with populations of 5,000 or more are facing this problem. Home ownership is very important to most rural Nebraskans. Eighty-two percent believe it is very important to own their home. An additional 12 percent say it is somewhat important and six percent say it is not at all important. However, persons who do not currently own their home do not feel it is important for them to do so. Only 32 percent of renters say it is very important to own their home, compared to 91 percent of home owners. And, 35 percent of renters say it is not at all important to own their home.

African American Student Access To and Completion Of Higher Education, 1960-1992: A Correspondence Theory Analysis

“This presentation utilizes correspondence theory to analyze African American undergraduate student access to and completion of higher education in the United States. Findings from this research are presented and policy recommendations affecting Black student enrollment and graduation are discussed.”

Artificial Equations, Artificial Distinctions: Language that Poisons the Waters of Ethnic Relations

“It is my contention at this point that when race relations on campuses get better, it is in spite of, not because of, the proliferation of jargon-based rhetoric about diversity.”

"IF YOU BUILD THEM UP, THEY WILL STAY": THE ROLE OF RECOGNITION AND FEEDBACK ON STUDENT RETENTION

While such stratagems are certainly well founded, and have achieved varying degrees of success, it may be that a more fundamentally vital area of examination is being largely overlooked, namely the impact of the high school experience.

"100 CHALLENGES FACING STUDENTS OF COLOR IN THE 21st CENTURY"

"It is particularly critical to assess the impact, given the empirical data available, on institutions in California, Texas, Florida and Washington which anti-affirmative action laws and court orders have been passed/handed down."

Locus Amoenus vs. Locus Terribilis: The Spatial Dynamics of the Pastoral and the Urban in La Ceppède’s Théorèmes

The opening sonnets of Jean de La Ceppède’s Théorèmes (1613, 1622) present an urban vs. rural conflict that mirrors the dialectic between sin and salvation running throughout the work. La Ceppède’s focus for this struggle becomes the stark contrast between Jerusalem and the garden at the Mount of Olives. Jerusalem, as the place where Christ is persecuted and eventually tried, represents a Babylon-like enclave of transgression, while the garden is portrayed as a site of purity and tranquil reflection. From a literary standpoint, La Ceppède’s emphasis on the clash between dystopian and utopian settings comprises part of his adaptation of the pastoral, where this particular struggle becomes one of the genre’s principal motifs. In general, the contrast between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives emerges as the point of departure for the poet’s figuration of nature, both human and physical. A human construct, the city of Jerusalem becomes a metaphor for human corruption. In view of humanity’s fall in paradise and the denaturation it symbolizes, the poet’s goal, on both intellectual and affective levels, is to place the reader/dévot in a position to lift her/himself from the depravity of human nature to the grace of divine nature.

“FAILING TO FIT: STUDENT DEVELOPMENT THEORIES AND STUDENTS OF COLOR”

Theories proposed by Chickering, Astin, Helms, Gilligan, and Perry serve as a framework for under¬standing and explaining the development of college students.

"BREAKING THROUGH THE SOFT SPOKEN STEREOTYPE: THE VOICES OF ASIAN WOMEN IN DOCTORAL PROGRAMS"

This panel session explores how the dynamics of race and gender within university settings influence Asian women’s experiences in graduate psychology programs.

The Legitimacy of Anti-Affirmative Action Initiatives: Didactical Lessons for 21st Century Administrators

“In the next century, with anti-affirmative action measures on the rise, we may unconsciously be reverted back to the 1950’s and 1960’s, whereby our public schools were segregated by race. Didactical lessons for 21st century administrators will be to develop strategies that will keep schools accessible to everyone.”

When "Reason" Is In the Eye of the Beholder: A Reexamination of the "Reasonable Man" Standard as Applied to Organizational Management

“Specifically, issues of race, gender, disability, status, etc. provide a new context in which to judge the reasonableness of an individual’s actions.”