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Inside Furman is published monthly during the school year by the Furman University Department of Marketing and Public Relations. For story ideas, e-mail John Roberts, editor.
Unity
through diversity
By Idella Glenn, director of Multicultural Affairs
Nearly two years
ago the Community Relations Committee developed a diversity plan for the university
that includes the following vision: Furman seeks to reflect the diversity
of the global community within which it exists. Based on our long heritage
of free thought, Furman recognizes and values cultural differences as essential
to the educational process.
Therefore, the university promotes understanding and mutual respect of all members of its community so that we can create an academic and social environment which nurtures new ideas and an eagerness to learn and benefit from others.
In keeping with this vision, Furman has recently become a campus affiliate of the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI). NCBI is a nonprofit leadership training organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1984, NCBI works to eliminate prejudice and inter-group conflict in communities throughout the world.
Currently, NCBI has over 50 city-based leadership teams, 30 organization-based teams, and more than 50 campus affiliates. Our NCBI campus team began with a three-day Train-the-Trainer Seminar in which Furman team members learned how to lead a one-day community-building workshop.
The workshop includes a set of activities to help participants celebrate their similarities and differences. Participants identify the misinformation that they have learned about other groups, claim pride in their own group identities, learn about the personal impact of discrimination through the telling of stories, and, most important, develop concrete skills to challenge inappropriate comments and actions.
Furman currently has a team of 11 faculty, staff and students trained to lead the workshops. The first workshop, held in November, was well attended and received very positive evaluations. The next workshop is scheduled January 11 in Hartness Pavilion. Call 294-3094 to register, or go to the Furman Web page and follow the "Unity Through Diversity" workshops link.
The team plans to offer several more workshops during the year. In addition, individual groups or departments may request a special workshop, tailored to their needs, lasting a minimum of two hours to a full day (about six hours).
More information about NCBI Furman can be found at http://www.furman.edu/~mmenzer/ncbi.