Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Board Meeting

This week I had the very cool and exciting opportunity to meet with the IUPUI University Library (UL) board. At first I was super, super nervous. But, when I got to the meeting I definitely relaxed. The atmosphere was friendly and inviting and most importantly the information I received was really interesting. I got an amazing opportunity to meet some of the UL board members who are all very influential in the Indianapolis community and the meeting was really inspirational.

I know, I know, that sounds really corny but I am telling the truth. IUPUI's Dean of Faculties, Dr. Sukhatme, spoke to the board about some ongoing initiatives for the IUPUI student and faculty population. He emphasized the importance of service and research for both students and faculty. He also talked about the university's desire to promote international study opportunities for the students. His talk really got me think about some of my goals in general and some of my goals as a Diversity Fellow.

For me diversity is about awareness: learning, knowing and understanding others to the best of your ability. I think that the initiatives that IUPUI has set forth are very similar to what I hope to do through this fellowship. Too often, I believe, diversity is something that people try to achieve unnaturally. What I mean by this is that often times people try to mend the wounds of the historic cultural disparities in this country by superficially addressing the problem. We approach one another's differences from the outside, as if the value of another's cultural heritage is nothing more than an accessory to our own.

I have to say that this approach to diversity is better than no approach at all, but I am happy to say that it seems like IUPUI is offering more experiential opportunities for cultural exploration. I think if we try our best to experience other cultures we will start to see that are similarities outweigh our differences. Who knows maybe then we will become more sensitive to and respectful of the humanity that binds us all...
just a thought
Ashley:)

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice write up and
good luck with your Fellowship.
Charlie Green

Marilyn Bartlett said...

Enjoyed your presentation and enjoyed visiting with you at the meeting. Good luck with your endeavors, Marilyn Bartlett

ULIB Diversity Fellowship said...

Hey Ash,

I really like your thoughts on this. And I definitely agree! I personally thought a lot of the diversity initiatives on campus were launched just to remedy the upset students of various organizations who felt discrimination and insensitiveness was present on campus. But by you telling us that the Dr. you speak of wants to encourage cultural understanding with immersion and research, it makes me feel a lot better - and makes me feel as if our job this year is VERY important and meaningful! =D