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Diversity comes in many colors, shapes and sizes.
Think what about what makes you different from another individual.
It could be that you are short instead of tall or that you prefer
gardening to fishing. What makes us distinct from one another is
more than the just the color of our skin or the country of our birth.
Diversity is defined by the characteristics that we all bring to
the table through our beliefs, ideas, perceptions, heritage and
culture. At Purdue Agriculture, we recognize that the celebration
of diversity and exchange of ideas are important ways in which we
can advance our efforts in teaching, research and Extension.
Never before has it been so important for us
to embrace diversity. We are no longer just residents of a community,
a state, or even a nation but of a larger global society. Nowhere
is this so evident as in the changing face of our nation’s
population. We have people from many nations and cultures working
and living side by side in the United States. And through advances
in technology, our ability to communicate with others is instantaneous
and transcends geographic borders.
In order to achieve an ethnically diverse workforce,
we must first have ethnically diverse student bodies in our colleges
and universities. Creating a climate that fosters and values diversity
and welcomes and supports all students, faculty and staff is one
our highest priorities over the next few years.
Faculty and staff throughout Purdue Agriculture
are joining together in the charge to enhance diversity. We’ve
created a series of diversity forums and awareness workshops for
faculty, staff, students and alumni. This will provide an arena
for us to embrace each other’s ideas and conversations while
working together for a common cause.
We also are concentrating additional resources
and efforts to increase the diversity representation among our student
body so that it more closely reflects the diverse population of
Indiana. In addition to recruiting students from our home state,
we’re collaborating with several Historically Black Colleges
and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions and Native American
Tribal Colleges.
We took one step toward this goal to recruit
and retain high-achieving minority students occurred this year,
when we awarded five four-year scholarships to ethnic minority freshmen.
These scholarships were made possible by a $100,000 Multicultural
Scholars grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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