MOUNT VERNON — Cornell College and its Office of Intercultural Life will host a one-day conference addressing “white privilege” with the theme “Understanding, Respecting, and Connecting in the Changing Face of America.” The conference is Thursday, Feb. 17, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. It will be repeated Friday, Feb. 18.
The conference will address the “innocent, ignorant participation in racism,” says Eddie Moore Jr., Cornell assistant dean of students and director of Intercultural Life. The conference is particularly geared toward high school students, who may be influenced to make changes when they hold future leadership positions, he says. Presenters will cover racism, prejudice and stereotypes; the difference between white privilege and heterosexual privilege; anti-racist activism’s effect on campuses and communities; diversity and leadership; and race and race relations in American society.
Moore, founder of a multicultural diversity consulting and research team called America and MOORE, will be one of the presenters. Others are:
– Salome Raheim, director and associate professor of the school of social work at the University of Iowa. She holds a doctorate in communication studies from the University of Iowa.
– Diane Finnerty, diversity resources coordinator for the University of Iowa’s Office of Affirmative Action.
– Ansa Akyea, an actor/performer and University of Iowa graduate student in the master’s of fine arts acting program and the African-American world studies program.
– Traevena Potter-Hall, director of the Iowa Commission on the Status of African-Americans.
– Jennifer R. Holladay, program officer for the Teaching Tolerance project of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Atlanta.
– Lee Jones, a faculty member/administrator at Florida State University and founder and CEO of Voices in Progress Inc., a consulting practice that focuses on self-empowerment. He holds a doctorate in organizational development from Ohio State University.
For information or to register, go to www.cornellcollege.edu/intercultural_life/white_privilege/ or call Cornell’s Office of Intercultural Life, (319) 895-4484.