“We were pleasantly surprised by the number and quality of applications,” says Spelman, the university’s director of diversity. The 17 proposals came from students, faculty and staff. “The response speaks to people’s readiness to address diversity issues through a wide variety of approaches.”
The grants support initiatives that are not funded through other budgets, but which advance understanding of differences in ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, physical ability levels, and other areas. The office of Earl Avery, chief diversity officer and special assistant to the president for diversity, provides the funds.
Spelman and other Diversity Council members did not plan to parse awards among different sectors of the Bentley community. But the four grant recipients do indeed represent faculty, staff and students.
Senior Lecturer in Management Marie Rock gained funding for “Cultural Exploration for
Conversation Partners.” This program, begun in fall 2007, pairs graduate students from outside the U.S. with faculty and staff for activities such as discussing cultural issues and visiting historical sites.
Grants also went to two undergraduate projects. A student organization called the Portuguese Press Conference is planning a “25th of April” celebration to promote Portuguese culture and history. The program will feature Portuguese dance performances and food, and speakers will share stories of the Carnation Revolution — the nonviolent coup that, in 1974, transformed the country from dictatorship to democracy.
“This grant helped us add guest speakers and spread the word that our group is here on campus,” says Andrew Carreiro ’09, who helped organize the first 25th of April celebration in 2008. He points out that the Portuguese Press Conference is open to students from all Portuguese-speaking nations, which include
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