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2009 Diversity Events

May:

Women’s Faculty Network Spring Luncheon
May 6
This luncheon is to honor recently promoted TAMU Women Faculty and the Recipient of the 2009 Mentoring Award. The speaker for this event is Dr. Karan L. Watson, Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives.

April:

Race & Ethnic Studies Institute Symposium
April 30 – May 2
(RESI) will host a symposium on Race, Ethnicity, and (New) Media from April 30- May 2, 2009. Most sessions will be held in Rudder Tower. The symposium will focus on scholars who explore various aspects of race and ethnicity within the overlap of old and new media. The theme for this year’s symposium is Shifting Terrains: Inequalities in the 21st Century. The symposium is co-sponsored by The Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research, and three liberal arts departments - Sociology, Performance Studies, and English.

Diversity Awards
April 29
The Diversity Service Awards acknowledge and honor the efforts of students, faculty and staff who strive to promote understanding and appreciation of diversity in its multitude of forms at Texas A&M University. Individual Diversity Service Award recipients will each receive a $300 cash reward and framed certificate. Team Diversity Service Award recipients will each receive a framed certificate. Award categories are: Student – any currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate student, Staff – must be budgeted at least 50% time, Faculty – personnel holding faculty titles, Student Organization – any currently recognized student organization, and Team - any university sponsored group made up of students, faculty, and/or staff ( i.e. a committee or task force. For a full list of this year’s winner, go to http://dms.tamu.edu/diversityawards/awardrecipient.html

Holocaust Remembrance Day
April 23
Today Texas A&M joins the nation in marking Holocaust Remembrance Day. The event is sponsored by the Texas A&M Campus Ministerial Association. Included in the day's activities is the reading, at Ruder Fountain, of names of Holocaust victims. An interfaith service will be held at All Faiths chapel.

Take Back the Night March and Rally
April 23
The Texas A&M Women’s Resource Center, the Sexual Assault Resource Center of Brazos Valley and Twin City Mission Domestic Violence Services will host a Take Back the Night march and rally on the Texas A&M campus, Simpson Drill Field at 7:00 pm. The march will include a keynote address by Alesha Istvan, Executive Director of the Sexual Assault Resource Center.

During 2007 there were 69 sexual assault cases reported in the Brazos Valley. Statistics like this have sparked Take Back the Night demonstrations worldwide for more than three decades. All members of the community are welcome to participate in this powerful awareness-raising event. For more information about the event, contact the Women’s Resource Center, (979) 845-8784.

Student Conference on Latino Affairs
April 3 - 4
The purpose of SCOLA is to create a platform in which students from diverse backgrounds are able to unite and discuss issues facing the Latino population as well as to promote methods of empowerment. The topics of discussion will be centered around the theme: " Narrowing the Latino Education Gap: An American Crisis." This year's conference keynote speakers are Dr. Raymund Paredes, Texas Commissioner of Higher Education and Rolando Santos, Senior Vice President for International relations at CNN’s Atlanta headquarters. For more information on the conference or registration, visit http://scola.tamu.edu.

GLBT Awareness Week
April 5 – 9
April 5: ALLIES Advance – register at http://allies.tamu.edu

April 6: The Coming Out Monologues directed by Texas A&M University students, faculty, and staff. These poignant personal stories illustrate the emotions and responses experienced as we come to understand our own sexual orientations and gender identities, and share them with those around us. 7 pm, 201 MSC

April 7: Film “The Laramie Project” The Matthew Shepard Story. The film tells the story of the events leading up to, and the aftermath of the 1998 murder of Matthew shepard due to anti-gay hate. 7 pm, 302 Rudder

April 8: Keynote Speaker: Judy Shepard – Gay rights activist and mother of Matthew Shepard, speaks out against anti-gay violence and promotes an understanding of GLBT issues. Speaking from a mother’s perspective, Judy Shepard has made the prevention of hate crimes the focus of her efforts, and urges her audiences to make their schools and communities safer for everyone, regardless of race, sex, religion, or gender identity and/or expression. 7 pm, Rudder Theatre

April 9: Guess Who’s Gay Panel - 7pm, Koldus 111

For more information about any of the events please contact GLBT Resource Center at glbtresourcecenter@tamu.edu or call 979-862-8920.

March:

African Student Association Week
March 31 – April 4
March 31: “By the Numbers” The Debate, 7 pm - MSC 230-231

April 2: “Jenifa” Movie Night, 7 pm – Rudder 302

April 3: “Reflections of Our Roots” Open Mic Mixer, 7 pm – 292 MSC

April 4: “Got Futbol?” Game Time, 11 am – “Red Carpet Premiere” Banquet 7 pm – Rec Center Archery Room

Women's Leadership Forum
March 24
Women’s Leadership Forum is held annually in March to honor Women’s History Month. The Forum commemorates Women’s History by providing a rallying point for coordinated efforts to recognize and encourage women’s equal rights and participation in our community’s political, educational, economic, and social processes. The Forum provides the University community an opportunity to reflect on the progress made to advance women’s equality, to evaluate the challenges facing women in present-day society, and to consider future steps needed to eliminate discrimination against women on campus and around the world. For more information on the conference or registration, visit register at https://secure.touchnet.com/C21490_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=279

SGA Diversity Symposium
March 2 - 3
Student Government Association Diversity is hosting its annual diversity symposium Monday and Tuesday (March 2-3) featuring Rabbi David Lazar, who will speak on the importance of interfaith dialog. The first event is “An Intimate Interfaith Discussion with Student Leaders” from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Monday (March 2) in Koldus 146. Student leaders will have the opportunity to interact with one another and discuss the challenges and issues that various religious groups face on this campus. Lunch will be provided. Advisors of religious student organizations are also invited to this event. “Exploring our Foundations” will follow from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday in Rudder 401. Organizers say this will be an in-depth exploration of various sacred texts. Attendees will be able to share with one another their own interpretations of their texts as well as explore the similarities between the texts. The symposium continues with “AGGIES COEXIST: An Evening of Interfaith Dialog,” from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday (March 3) in Rudder Theater. It will feature Rabbi Lazar as keynote speaker as well as members of the Aggie community as panelists. Organizers say the goal of the symposium is to encourage interfaith dialog and activities among Aggies, to break down faith-related misconceptions and provide suggestions to live in harmony in our multi-faith community.

February:

International Week
February 27- March 5
International Week (I-Week) is hosted by the International Students Association (ISA) to promote international awareness among the Aggie Community. The events include a Cultural Displays, Variety Show, Dress Parade, Symposium, Consul’s luncheon and an International Buffet.

Lecture by Professor John Fletcher
February 26
The Queer Studies Working Group, a Glasscock Center Working Group at Texas A&M, proudly presents "Intolerations: Ex-Gays, Queer Theory, and the Limits of Radical Democracy," a free, public lecture by Professor John Fletcher, Department of Theatre History and Women's and Gender Studies at Louisiana State University. The lecture will be Thursday, February 26, at 4:00 p.m., in Evans Library, Room 204E.

Presentation by Kimberly Brown
February 25
Kimberly Brown, Associate Professor of English department presents “Black Like Whom? Blackface as Catharsis and Revolution in Grace Halsell’s Soul Sister.” Colloquia will be held in the Glasscock Building, Room 311.

Lecture by Kathleen Blee
February 16
“Can We See Big Structures and Large Processes Through a Small Lens? Looking Again at Gender in Organized Racism,” presented by Kathleen Blee, distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh. Feb. 16 at 4 p.m. in Evans Library 204E.

The Songs, Stories, Signs, Survivance: A Symposium on Indigenous Discourse
February 3
The Indigenous Studies Working Group explores the challenges and rewards of engaging in Indigenous Studies, discovers and analyzes the similarities and differences between academic approaches to the study of Indigenous peoples, investigates trends and changes within the field of Indigenous Studies, and supports and assists one another in undertaking innovative research. Presenter: Qwo-Li Driskill, Department of English.

“Know Yourself” - Presentation by Amy Roloff
February 2
Amy Roloff of TLC’s Little People, Big World will be speaking about the importance of “knowing yourself” – your strengths, weaknesses, passions, biases, experiences when acting and serving as a leader. She will discuss her personal leadership perspective and how knowing yourself has helped her be a leader as a teacher, soccer coach, mom, woman, and little person.

January:

Campus with a Dream and Black History Month Activities
January 17 - February 28
View web link for calendar of events.
http://wbac.tamu.edu/BHM%20Calendar.html

Free Speech: Balancing Freedoms with Our Aggie Values
January 26
Texas A&M students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to participate in a Jan. 26 workshop designed to enhance awareness about rights to exercise free speech. The interactive program, titled “Free Speech: Balancing Freedoms with Our Aggie Values,” will be led by a nationally renowned First Amendment authority and offered twice that day in Rudder Theater. The workshop is designed to help participants, particularly those on a college campus, understand how provisions of the First Amendment relate to actions by individuals and groups choosing to exercise their free-speech rights. Sponsored by the Office of the President, the program will be presented initially from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. and again from 5 to 6:30 p.m. to provide maximum opportunity for members of the campus community to participate. The sessions will be facilitated by Saundra “Saunie” Schuster, a partner with the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management and co-author of The First Amendment On Campus: A Handbook for College and University Administrators. Schuster is a past president of the Association of Student Judicial Association, former general counsel for Sinclair Community College and senior assistant attorney general for the State of Ohio. In the interactive phase of the workshop, participants will use clickers to respond to questions and scenarios. Participants are asked to register in advance at the following website: http://studentlife.tamu.edu/freedomofspeech.html . They also will be invited to complete a brief quiz to provide anonymous feedback and commentary. The link to the First Amendment quiz that participants are asked to take prior to the workshop is https://www.splc.org/falawtest/

Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference
January 22 - 25
The Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference is held each January, uniting hundreds of students a nd advisors, nationally renowned speakers and a variety of corporations from throughout the entire country. The conference presents a number of creative workshops that focus on related topics and develop strong leadership skills. SBSLC is dedicated to addressing and developing solutions to major issues as well as bringing a spirit of unity among students and leaders of all levels.

Second Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast
January 22
Our special guest speaker for the Breakfast will be Dr. Julianne Malveaux. Currently serving as the President of Bennett College for Women, Dr. Malveaux is recognized for her progressive and insightful observations, she is also an economist, author, and commentator, and has been described by Dr. Cornel West as “the most iconoclastic public intellectual in the country.” Dr. Malveaux’s contributions to the public dialogue on issues such as race, culture, gender, and their economic impacts, are shaping public opinion in 21st century America. Presented by the MSCC Carter G. Woodson Black Awareness Committee, MSCC Diversity, the Department of Multicultural Services, Division of Student Affairs, Department of Student Life, Glasscock Center for Humanities Research, Texas A&M University Libraries, Department of History, Office of the Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity, Residence Life, and the Department of Student Activities

The Inauguration of the 44th President
January 20
Texas A&M University will provide an opportunity for members of the campus community to view the historic inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States next Tuesday, January 20, on Kyle Field’s 12 th Man TV. Doors of The Zone Club at Kyle Field will open at 10 a.m., with Texas A&M President Elsa A. Murano giving a brief welcome at 10:20 a.m. and the inauguration ceremony beginning at 10:30 a.m.

The event is expected to end at approximately 1 p.m. Outdoor seating in The Zone Club will be available, weather permitting, and light refreshments will be served.