The third annual Diversity Days celebration, a university-wide series of events highlighting the differences and connections among members of the UGA community, will kick off Sept. 14.
The events include talks, performances and campus socials. More events can be found online at www.uga.edu/diversity/. This year’s theme is “Embracing Diversity: Branching Out and Engaging New Dialogues.”
“The theme reflects our hope that students, faculty and staff will think of diversity more broadly and find new ways of understanding each other,” said Cheryl Dozier, associate provost for institutional diversity. “Engaging in new dialogues isn’t easy to do, but it’s an essential part of living in a diverse and inclusive community like UGA.”
The program begins with a kickoff celebration at 2 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Chapel. It will include a presentation of the Embracing Diversity Awards, which recognize accomplishments of individuals, groups and teams who contribute to inclusion and diversity, as well as the awarding of the Black Alumni and Diversity scholarships.
Provost Arnett C. Mace Jr. will give the welcome and Mark Dawkins, associate dean for academic programs in the Terry College of Business, will give the keynote address.
Dawkins, who is also president of the Black Faculty and Staff Organization at UGA, will speak on the importance of embracing diversity.
“The biggest challenge to diversity has been increasing the representation of underrepresented students, whether it’s African-American, Hispanic or Latino students,” he said. “I used to visit 20 to 25 high schools per year, and a lot of the counselors had the view that UGA was not a friendly place for minority students. It takes time to work with them, and the admissions office is doing a lot of good work, but the problem is still pervasive.”