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K-State Today

November 10, 2014

K-State Diversity Summit celebrates accomplishments, brings international demographer to campus Nov. 14

Submitted by Myra Gordon

Over the last decade, Kansas State University's collective efforts in diversity have yielded national prominence with the winning of two prestigious diversity awards. 

To celebrate these accomplishments and discuss the future of diversity on campus, the Ninth Diversity Summit at Kansas State University, "2015-2025: Achieving the Apex in Diversity Excellence," will be from 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14, at the Alumni Association Ballroom.

The summit is free for all participants with the exception of a small meal cost for each attendee.

"What an exciting time for multiculturalism and diversity at Kansas State University," said Myra Gordon, K-State associate provost for diversity. "The timing is perfect for the summit to add to this momentum and to help position us all for the next decade of pursuing diversity excellence at K-State."

The number of multicultural students, faculty and staff at K-State continues to rise each year. In 2014, multicultural students comprised 14.5 percent of the K-State student population.

Steve H. Murdock, international demographer, former director of the U.S. Census Bureau and distinguished professor at Rice University, will be the keynote presenter. Murdock was a keynote speaker at the prestigious "Future of State Universities" conference in Texas. The topic of Murdock's keynote is "The Implications of Accelerated Demographic Shifts for Higher Education and the American Economy."

"The campus is so fortunate to have the same distinguished scholar who presented to the presidents and chief academic officers of almost all of the country's land-grant institutions come to our campus and present to us," Gordon said.

Also at the summit, "The Status of Multiculturalism and Diversity at Kansas State University" presentation will examine issues such as university definitions of diversity, the infrastructure for diversity promotion, K-State diversity demographics and the measurable documented outcomes associated with the current strategic plan for diversity.

The summit also will showcase faculty excellence in multicultural curriculum transformation. Faculty from the colleges of Agriculture, Architecture, Planning & design, Technology and Aviation, and others will share how they used their Tilford Incentive Grant projects to advance cultural competence in their classrooms.

The summit will end with a celebration of the awards for diversity excellence recently received by individuals, units and the university. This celebration will feature the ZuZu African acrobats, a high-flying tumbling act, and Willie the Wildcat.

Register for the summit or read the summit schedule.

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