{"id":2920,"date":"2014-06-09T17:35:09","date_gmt":"2014-06-09T21:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2014\/06\/09\/dli-anniversary-celebration\/"},"modified":"2022-11-07T19:25:54","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T00:25:54","slug":"dli-anniversary-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/dli-anniversary-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"DLI Anniversary Celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Diversity Leadership Initiative, part of Furman University\u2019s Riley Institute, celebrated 10 years of achievement and unveiled\u00a0Unite South Carolina<\/em>, a magazine that looks at 10 of those successes, at a breakfast hosted by Michelin North America on June 9.<\/p>\n

Dick Riley, former South Carolina governor and U.S. secretary of education, attended as did Michelin officials, DLI and Riley Institute officials, various DLI graduates, and others involved in the program.<\/p>\n

Over DLI\u2019s 10 years, more than 1,300 leaders in the state have participated in the program. The leaders have worked in teams to improve the lives of South Carolina\u2019s most vulnerable citizens.<\/p>\n

Over DLI\u2019s first 10 years, more than 1,400 leaders in the state participated in the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole program has worked extremely well,\u201d and has contributed to changing lives, said Pete Selleck, president and chairman of Michelin North America. He said he\u2019s proud that 96 Michelin managers have participated in DLI over the years.<\/p>\n

DLI, begun in 2003, has partnered through the years with corporations and government, said Don Gordon, executive director of the Riley Institute.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact is continuous and it\u2019s widespread,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s low key\u201d and other times more visible. But leaders throughout the state have learned that diversity is \u201can effective tool for progress for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Carolina has become a \u201cnational leader in using diversity as an advantage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Susan Shi, Ph.D., was a member of the first DLI class and pointed out that while individuals can make a difference, the collective impact of all DLI graduates is huge.<\/p>\n

Riley agreed: \u201cI don\u2019t think there is any end to what OneSouthCarolina can do.\u201d OneSouthCarolina is an association of the DLI graduates.<\/p>\n

Calder Ehrmann, who was the chief diversity officer at Michelin when DLI was begun and is now a senior associate with the Riley Institute, said that Juan Johnson, the program\u2019s facilitator, \u201chas changed the landscape in South Carolina in so many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson unveiled\u00a0Unite South Carolina<\/em>, which took a year to bring together with the writing and photography of Jean Shifrin. Currently, the magazine is available in print\u00a0and online<\/a> at the Riley Institute. An interactive magazine also will be available soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we could capture the essence of what DLI is all about,\u201d he said. The program \u201cis about bring people together and allowing conversations to happen and relationships to happen.\u201d In the end, however, it is about action that will improve the state.<\/p>\n

Unite South Carolina<\/em>\u00a0portrays 10 projects, undertaken by teams of DLI participants throughout the state.<\/p>\n

Team Mozaik, a spring 2007 DLI class, included Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen and YMCA of Greater Charleston President Paul Stoney. The group created Camp Hope, a community action project that works with low-income and under-served children and seeks to connect the community and the police department.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn one of my first walks through the East Side, I encountered a kid that was eating dirt\u2014literally eating dirt,\u201d Mullen said in the magazine. \u201cAnd most of the kids I saw would not even look at me. They would run away when I walked down the street, and I found that totally unacceptable. So I decided right then that we would do something to change the perception of police in that community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another program is Unite Summerton, a project that brings high school students together to work to achieve racial unity in a divided town. Summerton is the town that produced a case later combined with other school desegregation cases to become Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas\u2014which eventually provided for the integration of public schools.<\/p>\n

That decision provoked the flight of white students in Summerton to a private school while the black students remained in the public schools. In a town of fewer than 1,000 residents, \u201cthe students live mostly separate lives on opposite sides of town,\u201d said Shifrin. Students from both high schools have come together to unite as one, provide service from leadership, improve race relations, and beautify their town.<\/p>\n

Other projects include Dream Connectors, a Greenville program that exposes middle school students to the career and life dreams they can achieve; Sunday Super Stars, a program that allows children with special needs to explore the Children\u2019s Museum of the Lowcountry without the Museum\u2019s normal crowds; and Cycle for Change, a bike program for Greenville youngsters that exposes them to more than just biking.<\/p>\n

The magazine also features a program that helps food-service workers learn to prepare healthier meals for elementary school students to help combat childhood obesity; a Columbia program that teams autistic children with non-autistic kids for arts and crafts, outdoor play and lunch; a mobile recreation van that brings recreational tools to kids in Greenville parks; and a natural diversity program that connects diverse high school students in the Lowcountry to one another and to nature.<\/p>\n

Johnson said of DLI, \u201cI think what we\u2019re most proud of is that the leaders really get engaged. We want to look for opportunities to bring the three parts of the state together. People can make a difference in this state. People can change lives in this state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more<\/a> about the Diversity Leadership Initiative.<\/p>\n

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