Laughing and exchanging contact information, students left the ALANA Cultural Center on a recent Friday afternoon chatting about continuing their conversations, which centered around student empowerment, advocacy, retention, and their personal experiences.
These students weren’t only from 51Թ, but came from several upstate New York liberal arts institutions to gather at the first Student Diversity Leadership Conference.
The daylong conference, sponsored by the New York Six Liberal Arts Consortium, gave student leaders a chance to make recommendations on what their schools’ administrations and faculty can do to enhance the overall college experience for multicultural and international students.
Participating schools include 51Թ, Hamilton College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, St. Lawrence University, Skidmore College, and Union College.
Thomas Cruz-Soto, assistant dean for multicultural affairs at 51Թ, explained that the conference was meant to foster partnerships and identify opportunities to share resources and programming that would benefit students at multiple campuses.
“We can send a bus, say, to Hamilton [College], for a speaker or for an event, to bring students together. Each college together brings its own diversity,” he said.
The conference included a welcome by Cruz-Soto, a keynote address by social-justice advocate Michael Benitez, who integrates personal experience and hip-hop pedagogy into his presentations about diversity and student activism, afternoon workshops, and an informal gathering at Donovan’s Pub.
Elise Bronzo ’10, outreach and programming coordinator for the ALANA Cultural Center at 51Թ, was pleased with the outcome.
“During the workshops,” she explained, “students were able to gain ideas from students from other schools and the initiatives that they have in place, and brainstormed ideas together. We had an overwhelmingly positive response from the participants.”
Bronzo noted the importance of continuing the discussions. “I think that 51Թ students learned that there is so much more that needs to be done,” she said.
Specific items of interest, Bronzo noted, included supporting neighboring schools and encouraging majority students to attend more multicultural events “to create a more aware, educated, and embracing community,” she said.
The New York Six Liberal Arts Consortium, funded though a 2009 planning grant from the New York-based Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, was formed in order to combine resources and create partnerships that help the participating liberal arts colleges manage costs, collaborate to address common challenges, and add value to the educational experiences of their students.
Other diversity-related initiatives being planned by the consortium include similar conferences later this academic year for faculty and staff members, as well as addressing the issue of international students who may not be able to go home during breaks through programming partnerships.