CAS CONNECT 2015

8 OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY’S EFFORTS TO INCREASE DIVERSITY ON CAMPUS AREN’T LIMITED TO BRINGING IN A MORE DIVERSE STUDENT BODY. IN LIGHT OF RECENT NATIONWIDE EVENTS INVOLVING MATTERS OF RACE, OSU RECOGNIZES THAT SERIOUS AND SINCERE EFFORTS TO PROMOTE DISCUSSION ABOUT RACE AND MULTICULTURALISM ARE A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. Dialogues in Diversity Two OSU programs promote conversations on multiculturalism Dr. Jason Kirksey, OSU’s vice pres- ident of Institutional Diversity, works with several offices on campus to address issues unique to underrepresented or underserved OSU students. Since being appointed in 2010, he has seen OSU increase its diversity initiatives under President Burns Hargis. Examples of those initiatives include scholarship opportunities, leadership programs and diversity education. The College of Arts & Sciences’ Center for American Indian Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies program and the OSU Ethics Center all work to provide diver- sity education. Inspired by their success, Kirksey looks forward to developing the Center for Africana Studies and the Critical Conversation series by the OSU Ethics Center as multicultural resources at OSU. STORY BY Jamie Hadwin CONTINUES “Obviously OSU is not OK with racism.” — Lawrence Ware, OSU Department of Phi losophy lecturer and diversity coordinator