PRESIDENT ' S
PERSPECTIVE
President Kevin J . Manning , Ph . D ., with Stacey D . Stewart , U . S . President of United Way Worldwide , recipient of the University ’ s 6th Annual Social Entrepreneurship Award . ( See page 4 .)
Stevenson University is a diverse institution , which we believe adds strength and character to our educational experience .
Most experts on the topic of diversity agree that inclusion is one of the greatest challenges for colleges and universities to achieve . For example , a curriculum needs to reflect a variety of rich academic programs available for diverse audiences . By offering these courses , we help the campus more fully understand human differences and similarities through the lens of such topics as culture , race , religion , gender , language , and socioeconomic factors , thus spawning healthy conversations and dialogues about them . Given our core curriculum requirements , it is sometimes difficult to find room for additional courses about these subjects — yet we understand that it is necessary to do so .
During the past year we have had an opportunity to understand even more fully the importance of diversity to members of our campus community . Recently , we hosted a town hall meeting in order to assess the state of diversity and inclusion at Stevenson . Nearly 200 students attended , and I helped to facilitate an open discussion among the students as well as faculty and staff .
Many perspectives were shared during the town hall , and they included a variety of concerns from security and student activities to curriculum and inclusion . Although all of these issues are important , one that seemed to dominate the discussion was some students reporting that they love being at Stevenson but don ’ t always feel part of the community . Also , a critical reminder that we took away from the meeting is that we are all different in one way or another . For example , my father immigrated from Ireland , and I remember hearing and feeling the inclusion issues that were part of his life experience in America . Unfortunately , our nation has a history of excluding people based on race , gender , religion , and more , which is why we need to provide opportunities to share our own personal experiences , learn from each other , and learn about other cultures in order to be more inclusive . Here at Stevenson , we share a common consciousness in that we all have similarities and differences , a fact that we embrace as we critique our curriculum and continue to move forward on diversity initiatives .
The town hall meeting offered many insights and following this productive meeting , we decided to engage a national expert on diversity who spent three days on campus visiting with students , faculty , and staff . As a result , Stevenson has decided to hire an Associate Vice President for Diversity , Inclusion , and Compliance ; promote an existing position to an Assistant Vice President for Multicultural Affairs ; and develop a comprehensive plan to foster diversity and inclusion throughout our community . Toward that end , we are creating a diversity and inclusion committee that will work with our new AVPs . The committee will be charged with creating a plan for diversity initiatives that we will support by bringing in speakers , adding to the curriculum , discussing diversity and inclusion , and helping each member of the campus community to become more conscious of their own uniqueness while developing a deeper understanding of others .
In addition to providing a high-quality education , Stevenson also must support its values through inclusion . We become a stronger and more effective university by including the many voices in our community . Through conscious inclusion efforts we can become the kind of institution that we want to be while preparing our students to become contributors in a world that is increasingly complex , diverse , and interconnected .
We are very optimistic about our ability to create a national model of significance in the area of diversity and inclusion that will not only benefit Stevenson but all of higher education . We look forward to the challenge and to reporting on these issues in the future .
Kevin J . Manning , Ph . D .
2 | VENTURES / SUMMER 2016