e Suffolk Center on the Holocaust, Diversity & Human Understanding,
introduced several Holocaust survivors to each other during an event in May 2013.
in November, they were invited back to continue a dialogue about their diverse
experiences as victims of the Nazi effort to exterminate the Jewish people and how the
Holocaust shaped their lives. e participants were werner reich, now of Smithtown,
who was born in Germany, moved to Yugoslavia, and was sent to the Auschwitz-
Birkenau death camp, and Mauthausen; Hannah robinson, now of Sound Beach,
who was born in Germany, and at nine years old her parents sent her with her brother
to england; and ruth Minsky Sender, now of east Setauket, who was born in Poland
and forced to live in the Lodz Ghetto, was then sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau death
camp, two work camps, and a displaced persons camp in Germany.
for our students, the office of Multicultural Affairs continued to schedule Diversity
workshops for College Seminar classes; scheduled a screening and discussion of the
film
“Selma”,
coordinated a trip to Gettysburg to participate in a Bicycle Challenge for
Disabled veterans, and facilitated an intercultural festival with irish Step dancers, a
Jazz flutist, and Native American dancers.
is office also launched and implemented the Minority to Majority Leadership
Academy. is Academy teaches women and underrepresented students leadership
skills, assigning them the responsibility for taking the skills they have acquired and
applying them at the College or within their community. As part of the Academy
experience, instructors and guest speakers dialog with students on perceptions and the
reality regarding what it’s like to be a minority or a woman vying for a leadership role.
is program has yielded tangible results to the campus, most specifically in finding
effective student peer mentors. To be selected as a campus peer mentor, students
complete a process that includes a rigorous interview. As a result of the leadership
skills developed through the Academy program, students shine in this endeavor.
Almost 50% of the peer mentors on the eastern Campus have participated and
completed the Leadership Academy. A new Academy group will start this fall and we
plan to expand the Academy to the Ammerman and Michael J. Grant campuses.
e office of Multicultural Affairs has also developed other programs to support
inclusion and dialog among members of the college community and student body.
interested students were invited to participate in the Synergy program, which offers
opportunities to engage in conversations with community members, including
undocumented immigrants, in an effort to enhance communication with area law
enforcement. e office also provided a Disability Awareness program that was offered
to the general campus population. is program required students to utilize durable
medical equipment, such as a wheelchair, and navigate the campus to experience what
it is like to be differently-abled. Students are then required to write a summative
report on what the experience was like. is session took place in october, which is
Disability Awareness Month.
i have reconvened the college-wide diversity advisory committee. Composed of
faculty, administrators, and counselors who have an interest in diversity, the
committee is charged with advising the office of Multicultural Affairs and making
suggestions for planning one special program each semester.
i was happy to join the Association of Latin American Students (ALAS) on our
eastern Campus, as the Club hosted a networking luncheon for its club members and
members of the campus community. e program included Latin music, food, and
demonstrations of Latin dances.
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2014-2015 Review of Accomplishments
