Micah Committee 2007-2008

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      Micah Committee 2008-2009

Katy Argueta-Romero (Multicultural Council Chair), Randy Basinger (Provost), Lawrence Burnley (Chair, Associate Dean for Multicultural Programs and Special Assistant to the Provost for Diversity Affairs), John Chopka (Chief Enrollment Officer), Amanda Coffey (Dir. Human Resources), Jean Corey (COE-Faculty), Valerian Curd (Staff), Kristin Hansen-Kieffer (Dean of Students), Debra Heath-Thornton (COE-Faculty), Hierald Kane-Osorto (Assoc. Director of Multicultural Programs), Dorca Kisare-Ressler (Director of International Student Programs), Adrienne Knight (Students), Nicolle Maurer (Student), Lawrie Merz (COE),Obed Mfum-Mensah (COE-Faculty), Grace Park (Student), Samuel Pirondi (International Student), Anyah Reed (Student), Winston Seegobin (Counselor for Students of Color, Intl Students, and MKs), Alfred Siha (Assistant Director of Multicultural Student Recruitment), Evie Telfer (Associate College Pastor), Amy VanDerWerf (COE), Cynthia Wells (COE-Faculty).

The Racial Justice and Multicultural Education ("Micah") Committee assists in developing goals, programs, policies, and institutional practices that create a welcoming and supportive campus climate for students and employees of color and of all nationalities and ethnicities. The committee encourages curriculum development and co-curricular programs that promote racial justice and multicultural learning. As a committee we discuss and propose ways to dismantle racist practices and policies that exist within the College. The committee carries out its mission--among other ways--by organizing training events, reviewing procedures for addressing incidents related to racial or ethnic harassment, and conducting periodic reviews of institutional policies and governance structures. Our membership includes key administrators from College Governance, Multicultural Programs, Student Affairs, Human Resources, from among the faculty, and from among our students and student leaders. Our vision is to ensure that Messiah College is educating, encouraging, and empowering students and employees to become agents of change and transformation on our campus and beyond.

During the 1996-1997 academic year, a task force was established to address issues of race and gender. This task force engaged with Don Kraybill (at that time Provost) to address issues of racism on campus. Within one year, the task force reorganized into two separate committees: the Racial Justice and Multicultural Education Committee (Micah) and the Gender Concerns Committee.

In the fall of 1998, Dr. Kim Phipps (at that time Academic Dean a.k.a. Provost) and faculty member Dr. Peter Powers were invited to co-chair the first fully formed Micah committee. The committee worked on initiatives such as drafting a racial harassment policy and procedure for the campus governance, as well as conducting campus wide multicultural education. In the spring of 1998, Micah initiated racial awareness training for members of the campus community through the Damascus Road Project run by the Mennonite church. By the year 2000, the college was able to fully adopt and implement the racial harassment policy drafted by Micah.

In the fall of 2005, Lawrence Burnley (the new Associate Dean of Multicultural Programs and Special Assistant to the Provost for Diversity Affairs) and Doug Wood (then Director of Community Development) began as the new co-chairs of Micah. They sought to bring new vision and a renewed purpose to Micah while seeking for ways to serve the Messiah College community.

Presently, Micah is chaired by Dr. Burnley and consists of approximately 22 members grafted from various parts of the Messiah community—students, faculty, staff, student affairs, enrollment and admissions, and the senior administration. Micah’s largest task this year has been the formulation of three sub-committees to focus on 1) the recruitment and retention of students of from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, 2) the recruitment of faculty from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, and 3) review of the racial/ethnic harassment policy. Next year these subcommittees will report back to the committee with recommended best practices and changes in Messiah college policy in these three areas, to be presented through the governance process and infused throughout the college’s activities.

A special thanks to Dr. Peter Powers for sharing his memories with us to help put this history together

Fall Semester 2008

November 13, 2008

• Discussion on Post-Election Campus Climate
• Diversity Strategic Plan discussed
• Safe-Place Dialog discussed
• Updates:
  • Anti-Racism Training

September 19, 2008

• Review Michah's Purpose and Mandate
• Harrassment Policy and Review Board Training Update
• Sub-Committe Updates

Spring Semester 2008

April 29, 2008

• New member introduced: VP of Multicultural Council: Katy Argueta-Romero
• Micah Retreat discussed
  • a one-day retreat for Michah to look trhough the reports and really take time to understand the reports and craft recommendations of the committee.
• Campus Climate Survey /Strategic Planning Update
• Anti-Racism Training Update

April 1, 2008

• Martin Scholarship Update:
  • a scholarship for students who demonstrate significant leadership, service, or ministry involvement in their school, church, or community and who have a record of promoting racial and ethnic diversity and reconciliation.
• Updates:
  • Scholarship Application Questions
  • Sub-Committee Updates
  • Recruitment/Retention of Students and Faculty
  • Campus Climate Survey/ Strategic Planning
  • Anti-Racism Training for students and Faculty

February 26, 2008

• Martin Scholarship Update
• Feedback on Campus Climate Survey
• Anti-Racism Training update

February 5, 2008

• Enrollment Management Plan discussed
• Martin's Community Partners Luncheon discussed
• First Annual Christians on Diversity in the Acadmey Conference discussed

Fall Semester 2007

December 4, 2007

• Presentation on Student Recruitment Process and Experience
• Gender Studies Project discussed
• Updates:
  • Harrassment Policy
  • Recruitment and Retention of Students
  • Recruitment and Retention of Faculty

November 6, 2007

• Complaint Procedure Policy
  • The purpose of a new policy is to define a single grievance process to be referenced, regardless of nature of the harassment.
• Updates
  • Faculty Recruitment/Retention
  • Student Recruitment/Retention
  • Campus Climate Town Hall Meeting
  • Gender Concerns Committee Proposal
  • Supplier Diversity
    • A networking session that gives attention to how companies and institutions give competitive access to woman-owned and minority-owned businesses.

October 9, 2007

• Subcommittee Updates
• The Net
  • Created last year to have a space for incoming students from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds to have a space to connect with each other, the OMP office, and to resources on campus
• Proposed Honor Scholarship Questions - Handed out
• Anti-Racism Training
• John Lee will be able to come this spring

September 11, 2007

• Review of Micah's Mission
• Campus Climate Survey and Strategic Planning Process
• Gender Concerns Committee/Gender Studies Project Collaboration
• Anti-Racism Training with John Lee
• Subcommittee Updates
  • Student Recruitment and Retention from Underrepresented Racial/Ethnic Populations
  • Racial/Ethnic Harassment Policy Review and Revision
  • Faculty Recruitment and Retention from Underrepresented Racial/Ethnic Populations
• Proposed Honor Scholarship Questions