Faculty, Staff, Students, Administrators and Alumni…

What do you think the Unity House Multicultural Education Center is trying to provide to the Gonzaga community?

“An ethical community of persons living the way of radical, self giving love, in pursuit of the fullest knowledge, expression, and teaching of truth while creating works of beauty, all in a quest to help humans reach their fullest being!”

(-Chris Sparks, Unity House Work Study Student ’08-’09)

The Unity House Multicultural Education Center is excited to invite you, your departments, divisions, school, and organization to collaborate with us this year in making Gonzaga a more inclusive community based on trust, honor and respect. We would like to personally thank all who have advised, collaborated and/or supported us this past academic year. With your assistance, we have been able to do amazing things!

This year we are hopeful that we will be able to continue to build closer relationships with our community and peers (faculty, staff, administrators and alumni) in various departments, including our professional schools and the law school in order to increase collaboration. We understand the importance of bringing together experts from various disciplines and fields in order to improve the services that the Multicultural Education Center provides to the greater Gonzaga community, and more importantly, to our students – all students!

The Unity House Multicultural Education Center’s primary purpose is to build a more inclusive community at Gonzaga University based on trust, honor, and respect. The primary goal of the Unity House is to help move individuals from diversity (being seen as separate, other, and negative) to unity (having oneness) to community (having a shared vision) (Hunt, 1999) via educational programming and presentations, activities and events.

The staff of the Multicultural Education Center works to assist Gonzaga University in developing and expanding its commitment to recruit, nurture, and retain students, faculty, administrators and staff of diverse backgrounds, ideologies and socio-economic backgrounds. Diverse individuals add to the distinctive educational and social experience of campus and community life. In order to facilitate the academic success and care of students from underrepresented populations, we work to provide the necessary tools they need to succeed academically, professionally, and personally. We also provide educational programming for the entire Gonzaga community.

As educators, the staff of the Multicultural Education Center understands the fact that when we “…promote an inclusive campus community built on trust, honor and respect” it doesn’t matter race, gender, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, position (student, faculty, staff, administrator), etc. We acknowledge and understand that we are a campus that should operate in a manner that promotes inclusivity – inclusivity of all.

With regards to the Unity House Multicultural Education Center’s purpose, “Building an Inclusive Community” based on trust, honor and respect (Hunt, 1999); this suggests that an organization (all members) will work collaboratively together in order to move from diversity (being defined as separate, other and negative) to unity (having oneness) to community (having a shared vision). In essence, by adopting this theoretical framework as the guiding principle for the Unity House Multicultural Education Center this past year (2007-08), we have taken a major step in promoting relationship-building, which will ultimately improve the campus climate, the undergraduate and graduate student experience, and promote cross-collaboration between employees, departments, divisions, and schools.

According to Hunt (1999) diversity, when defined as “separate, other and/or negative” (when it occurs on the outer circle of his model, see graphic below), promotes disrespect, dishonesty, and fear, and many times hate. In this case we can also include bias (bias/hate incidents).

Hunt (1999) also defines diversity (when it occurs on the inner circle of his model, see graphic below), as “variety”, which promotes trust, honor and respect. When and individual (or an organization) is operating in the inner circle of Hunt’s model, it is a positive as the individual/organization understands, acknowledges and respects the differences. For example this committee is very diverse (variety) but we are working collaboratively together because we have a “shared vision” – i.e. educating our students.

Hunt (1999) argues that often people fear what they do not know or understand. Are we promoting conversations on our campuses that are celebrating diversity – diversity defined as “variety” and not diversity defined as “separate/other/negative?” This is one of the goals that the Unity House has been successful in achieving through our programming this past year. Or are we doing business as usual because it does not affect us personally, or our departments or school? If we are operating in this manner (building discommunity) then, we, as individuals are operating on the outer circle of Hunt’s model and must move to the inner circle.

According to Hunt (1999), individuals and/or organizations are either building community or discommunity. We invite you to collaborate with the Multicultural Education Center this year in any manner in order to help us provide campus-wide programming, trainings, activities, etc. that will assist us in achieving our mission of building a more inclusive community on campus built on trust, honor and respect! We would like to thank you in advance for your assistance and collaboration in helping us to put the needs of Gonzaga’s students first!

If you would like to collaborate with us, please feel free to contact DaVina at ext. 4108 or via email at hoyt@gonzaga.edu.

Pearl Street between DeSmet and Sharp Avenues will be closed temporarily during the week of July 21, 2008, for the installation of a new water main to the Kennedy Apartment Complex. Thank you for your understanding as this work takes place next week.

Starting August 15, the Health Center will be open from 8 – 5pm, Monday – Friday, except Tuesday open at 10. We are closed from 12 – 1 for lunch.

The University is currently in the search process for a new Director of Security. On-campus interviews for four candidates will take place on Monday July 21 and Tuesday July 22. You are invited to participate in the process by attending a series of open fora for community members (faculty, staff and students) to meet and speak with each of the candidates individually. Each candidate will provide a short introduction and then open the floor for questions.

On Monday July 21 the open forum will be held from 1:30-2:30 pm with the first candidate. The second session will be held from 2:30-3:30 pm with the second candidate. Both sessions will be held in the Foley Teleconference center.

On Tuesday July 22 the open forum will be held from 2:30-3:30 pm with the third candidate. The second session will be held from 3:30-4:30 pm with the fourth candidate. Both sessions will be held in the Foley Teleconference center.

You are invited to attend as many sessions as you would like. For more information please call Lisa in the Student Life office at x4100.