2008 Woodie Awards
Cultural Diversity Summit to be held at SRU
By Caleb Pardick
Rocket Editor-in-Chief
Issue date: 11/4/05 Section: Entertainment
The second annual Harambee Summit, which will feature a variety of events, including concurrent workshops, a cabaret, a hip hop coffee shop and choir workshop, will take place this weekend inside the Slippery Rock University Student Union.
The Harambee (pronounced "ha-ram-bay") Summit, featuring the theme "Unveiling the Mask to Freedom," kicks off Friday evening and concludes with a plenary session Sunday morning at 10 a.m.
The inaugural Harambee Summit, themed "A Revolution for a Revelation," took place at SRU from Nov. 5-7, 2004. The conference was the creation of Robert Clay and DaNine Fleming, Assistant Director and Director of the Office of Intercultural Programs at SRU, respectively.
"It was our vision," Clay said. "What we're trying to do is to help students learn to respect who they are culturally while at the same time respect the individual differences of others."
Harambee is a Swahili word that means "let's pull together." Clay said he feels that the word fits the conference well.
"With this conference, and with our office, we're out to empower, educate, and enlighten students to be culturally aware as they attend predominantly-white institutions," Clay said.
The Summit, sponsored by the Western Pennsylvania Diversity Consortium, will feature seven speakers from around the country, each offering a different perspective on issues of leadership and diversity.
Over 200 students from 13 surrounding colleges will attend the Summit, an opportunity Clay thinks is unique.
"We draw in a large audience, with the desire to keep the Summit intimate," Clay said, "And getting some nationally-known speakers made it happen. But what we thought was important was using the resources that we have in our area to reach out to students."
Clay said the weekend's lineup of events offers something that many other campus events do not.
"I think that the Harambee Summit really gives students a chance to learn more about themselves, learn about the differences in people and get to meet others that they normally wouldn't have met," Clay said.
The Harambee (pronounced "ha-ram-bay") Summit, featuring the theme "Unveiling the Mask to Freedom," kicks off Friday evening and concludes with a plenary session Sunday morning at 10 a.m.
The inaugural Harambee Summit, themed "A Revolution for a Revelation," took place at SRU from Nov. 5-7, 2004. The conference was the creation of Robert Clay and DaNine Fleming, Assistant Director and Director of the Office of Intercultural Programs at SRU, respectively.
"It was our vision," Clay said. "What we're trying to do is to help students learn to respect who they are culturally while at the same time respect the individual differences of others."
Harambee is a Swahili word that means "let's pull together." Clay said he feels that the word fits the conference well.
"With this conference, and with our office, we're out to empower, educate, and enlighten students to be culturally aware as they attend predominantly-white institutions," Clay said.
The Summit, sponsored by the Western Pennsylvania Diversity Consortium, will feature seven speakers from around the country, each offering a different perspective on issues of leadership and diversity.
Over 200 students from 13 surrounding colleges will attend the Summit, an opportunity Clay thinks is unique.
"We draw in a large audience, with the desire to keep the Summit intimate," Clay said, "And getting some nationally-known speakers made it happen. But what we thought was important was using the resources that we have in our area to reach out to students."
Clay said the weekend's lineup of events offers something that many other campus events do not.
"I think that the Harambee Summit really gives students a chance to learn more about themselves, learn about the differences in people and get to meet others that they normally wouldn't have met," Clay said.
