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Diversity workshops offer tools for success
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by Melissa Lacas
Public Relations
Simple descriptions can evoke discriminating images and expectations.
How we respond when encountering stereotypical people also can be
unfair, unwarranted and even hurtful.
To help purge our subconscious of the unwarranted negative responses
and predispositions we have for people with stereotypical attributes or
customs, the MUSC National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI) Campus
Leadership Team is offering a new training program that promotes
diversity and reduces prejudice.
Imagine the first word or image that comes to mind with: Southern white
male; Middle Eastern female; single parent; lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender person; young black man with baggy pants; woman with blonde
hair; a woman wearing a sari.
The NCBI interactive workshops are not lectures. Role playing and group
activities teach participants more about each other—and themselves.
 Dr. B. DaNine Fleming
“Through surveys and personal testimonies of those participating in the
program, we are learning that people are realizing that they do have
stereotypes and biases,” B. DaNine Fleming, Ed.D., director of
training and intercultural education said. “These workshops impact you
on a personal level, which helps you on a professional level.”
All NCBI workshops are open to everyone on campus and vary in time.
They include one-hour exposure workshops, full-day workshops and
a three-day trainer workshop.
“It’s better to have the skills and tools and not need them, then to
need the skills and tools and not have them,” Fleming said. “These
workshops equip you with tools to help handle controversial issues and
make MUSC a proactive rather than reactive campus community.”
Two “Welcoming Diversity” full-day workshops discussing controversial issues will be held on May 5 and 6.
For more information or to register visit http://academicdepartments.musc.edu/ncbi.
The MUSC NCBI campus leadership team was created 18 months ago and
consists of 30 faculty and staff and will soon consist of students
members.
NCBI is an international, non-profit, leadership training organization
based in Washington, D.C. Since 1984, NCBI has worked to eliminate all
forms of prejudice and discrimination throughout the world.
Friday, March 27, 2009
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