Welcome to NCBI Furman! Mission Upcoming Events Workshops Information for Team Members NCBI Links Contact Us

Our mission is to

• build relationships that reveal the humanity of all persons.
• model, teach, and hone the skills of healing the wounds of prejudice.
• work with existing organizations to increase knowledge and understanding around differences of all kinds.
• mobilize diverse leaders to carry the message of acceptance and inclusion to others.
• create a community where all people and all groups are treated with dignity and respect.

Upcoming Events

Call Dianne Alexander at (864) 294-3094 to register for any of these workshops.

***Many of these workshops will be approved for CLP credit***

Diversity Basics:  2-hours

Description:  An introduction to diversity at Furman.  Participants will explore an area of diversity in which they would like to gain greater understanding.  Participants will also explore the impact of stereotypes.

TBA  

Courageous Conversations: 2-hours

Description:  The NCBI (National Coalition Building Institute) team at Furman University invites you to have a courageous conversation about (specific diversity issue).   Sample topics include:  racial identity, religious tolerance, gender/sexuality issues. Students will be lead through an interactive controversial issues model that includes discussion groups and results in the creation of an essential question and action steps.

TBA

Safe Zone Workshops: 2-hours

Description:  The Safe Zone program is designed to foster a welcoming and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) students, faculty, and staff by creating a visible network of effective allies.

TBA  

Mix it Up Day:  A simple call to action: take a new seat in the DH. By making the move, students can cross the lines of division, meet new people and make new friends.

TBA

NCBI Workshops:

Description:  The National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI) is a nonprofit leadership development organization based in Washington, D.C.   Furman University has an NCBI team that takes a proactive approach to combating intergroup conflicts by encouraging dialogue on controversial and divisive issues and by teaching effective bridge-building skills.  This event is designed to break down barriers of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other group identities in the Furman community and beyond.  It is hands-on and interactive.  Through directed discussion, students will identify stereotypes and misconceptions about groups other than their own; they will also learn principles of engagement by which they can intervene in real-life situations to deal with prejudicial remarks and jokes in a productive way. 

TBA

Contact Information
For more information or to request a workshop, please contact our director, Idella Glenn, either by e-mail or by phone at 294-3104.

History of Carolina NCBI Diversity Training Coalition

The seeds for the NCBI Carolina Diversity Training Coalition were planted when three Student Affairs staff members at Clemson University participated in an NCBI 5-Day Leadership Training Institute in the Fall of 1998.  The three returned to Clemson University and applied for (and received) a University grant to fund a 3-Day Train-The-Trainer in the Fall of 1999.  This core group formed the NCBI Clemson Team, the first NCBI Affiliate in the state of South Carolina.  There was also a person at nearby Furman University who was NCBI-trained and this person served as a member-at-large for the Clemson Affiliate until team at Furman University was established.

The Clemson Affiliate formed a partnership with several area schools and applied for an Alliance 2020 Grant to fund another 3-Day Train-the-Trainer in the Fall of 2000.  The purpose of this training was to assist these area schools in establishing their own NCBI affiliates.  The additional schools were:  Furman University, Tri-County Technical College, Anderson College, and SC State University (an HBCU).  Approximately 45 people attended this Coalition-building Train-the-Trainer. 

Since this initial training, the Coalition has sponsored four additional train-the-trainers to grow the teams and allow other colleges and universities to bring NCBI to their campuses.  SC State University hosted a Train-the-Trainer in the summer of 2001.  Furman University hosted a Train-the-Trainer in the Fall of 2002 and Fall of 2003.  Piedmont Technical College hosted the Fall 2004 & Fall 2005 trainings. The 2006 Training was held at North Carolina State University.  The 2007 Training was held at Furman University.Because of these trainings (as well as others in nearby Georgia), several other schools were introduced to NCBI.  These schools include:  Piedmont Technical College, USC-Aiken, USC-Upstate, College of Charleston, Presbyterian College, Aiken Technical College, Claflin University (HBCU), Denmark Technical College, Midlands Technical College, Winthrop University, Elon College, North Carolina State University and North Carolina Central University. 

The Carolina Coalition now consists of eight schools which have established NCBI Affiliates on their campuses: Clemson University, Furman University,  North Carolina State University, North Carolina Central University, Piedmont Technical College, USC-Aiken, Aiken Technical College, and Tri-County Technical College.  The plan is to build the Coalition throughout the North and South Carolina, both on the various college campuses as well as in the community.

Clemson University is looked upon as the ?flagship? Team in the Coalition.  Furman University also has a strong Team.  The Affiliate Directors from Clemson University (Altheia Richardson) and Furman University (Idella Glenn) serve as co-leaders of the Carolina Coalition, and are often called upon to assist some of the other institutions in the Coalition in conducting initial workshops on their campuses.  The Directors of the Clemson and Furman teams also serve as consultants for the other campus leaders in matters concerning their Teams (or establishing a Team in general). 

With strong support from Robert Dungey from the National organization, the Carolina NCBI Diversity Training Coalition continues to grow and thrive.  Altheia Richardson and Idella Glenn now serve on the national leadership Team for NCBI Campus programs, which provides advice to Cherie Brown, the founder of NCBI.

The Carolina NCBI Diversity Training Coalition meets three times per year.  The meeting location is rotated from institution to institution.  Most coalition members are within two hours of the meetings.

The host institution communicates with the Coalition representatives prior to each Coalition meeting to obtain attendance figures and to give directions.  They also provide the packets for the Coalition meeting, which includes an agenda, nametag, and sometimes information about their respective institution.  The host institution also provides snacks and lunch.

The Coalition Meetings usually take place from 10am to 2pm. This includes time for lunch, which is usually some type of boxed lunch which allows the meeting to continue.

The meetings provide an opportunity for members to get to know each other on a more personal basis.  The goals is to insure that no school is operating in isolation.  The time is used to share what is going well on the respective campuses as well as any challenges.  As challenges are discussed, participants  also try to come up with suggestions for overcoming the challenges.   One of the greatest challenges is financial resource.  Teams are beginning to figure out how to share resources and better support each other.

At the end of each Coalition Meeting, "Next Steps" for the Coalition are discussed.  This allows an opportunity to brainstorm together about future projects and trainings.    

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last updated 07.07.09