The Office of Institutional Diversity celebrated the 1st Annual Black History Month Heritage Gala, Saturday, February 24, 2007, at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, Schulze Grand Atrium downtown Minneapolis. The theme was Creating Access for the Future: Honoring Heritage and Legacy.
The theme is significant for many reasons. Perhaps the most important is the access imperative. Never before in the history of American higher education have universities and colleges been called upon to provide leadership in responding to so many national challenges, from ensuring that our students acquire higher-order thinking skills to providing solutions for complex global social and economic problems. Access to higher education is a national imperative. The pressure to respond to demographic change and the need for a better educated workforce are forcing us to rethink the ways we conduct our business. It is critical that we address what are we doing as leaders of our community to ensure both student access to our institutions and excellence within them. We must accelerate our response to expand access to a larger portion of the population. Even more critical, St. Thomas hopes to be a leader in providing access and excellence as a Catholic institution of higher learning.
The 2nd Annual Black History Month Heritage Gala is scheduled for Saturday, February 9, 2008. The theme will be Looking Back with Pleasure: Honoring the Gifts and Talents.
The newly created Diversity Awards Ceremony affirms the rich diversity of St. Thomas students, alumni, faculty and staff, as well as community programs that actively promote diversity in the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.The Diversity Leadership Awards were created to recognize the many personal efforts, unique contributions and initiatives that support institutional diversity related goals.
