11/15/2007 Diversity Committee Minutes
Members Present: Sandy Allen, Trisha Brady, Marielle Veve, Jeanine Williamson, Andy Madson, Shantrie Collins, Damon Campbell, Jeff French, Sara Green, Hannah Powell, and Thura Mack.
1. Announcements
• Update on Orphanage- Jeff French had success reaching the contact person. The orphanage will allow us to sponsor an ‘Angel Tree’ with up to thirty names to work with. The committee agreed on asking for ten names which will entail providing five gifts per name (fifty gifts total). We are also responsible for wrapping the gifts and sorting them by ID, and they must be turned in by Dec. 13th 2007. Where would we put up the ‘Angel Tree’? Second floor near the Melrose Exit, or the Hodges Staff Room. Jeff French agreed to be in charge of this project, and several committee members volunteered to work with him. Trisha agreed to 1. Donate a Christmas tree to be used for this project and 2. Ask Barbara for permission to put it in a public place.
• Native American film series posters- Trisha made posters and circulated them for the committee to review. The posters have been shared with the Native American group organization.
• ‘Coats for the Cold’ campaign completion- This was a tremendous success. We are still getting donations.
• Reminder concerning committee meeting with Barbara’s mentee- This meeting is scheduled for Wed. Dec. 5th from 10:30 to 11:30 in room 605. This will be a very informal session. It will allow this person to get to know us and ask us questions about our role in the organization.
• Any other updates or announcements from committee members- no additional announcements.
2. Discussion
• Spring Calendar meeting dates- The committee will continue to meet on Thursdays at 1:00 twice a month. Our first meeting of 2008 will be Jan. 17th. Sara will secure room 605 for our meetings.
• Winter party participation- This will be held Dec. 18th. The theme is ‘Let it Snow’ and will be held at the International House. This will be a pot-luck style event. The Diversity Committee will assist LEA with decorations, transporting the food, setting up the event and cleaning up after.
• Student recognition event date- We will check Barbara’s schedule to see when she is available. We would like to have this the last week of February, or the first week of March. We will continue this discussion at our next meeting.
• ‘Change’ events for December: Change and Professional Growth: A Panel Discussion. This program is planned for Dec. 3rd. We are desperately trying to locate a third panelist to talk about change. So far the contact from HR is not responding, another contact was suggested, but this person has a conflict with her schedule. We are hoping to get this resolved very soon. As soon as we confirm our final panelist, Damon has created a flyer to help promote this program. The second program “Library’s Stress Free Week” will not take place as originally planned; instead we will promote/recommend HR’s Stress Management seminar that will be held Dec. 13th from 9-11. This needs to be acted on ASAP.
• January events- Jeanine reported that Lana Dixon has contacted someone from the school of nursing inviting them to recommend/be a speaker for the program ‘Family Matters.’ Starting December, Jeanine will send out a call for volunteers to send in their stories on family members or personal disabilities. A poster will be created after the holiday break to supplement the promotional activity for the program. This is a ‘Lets Talk About it’ program that will be scheduled Jan. 9th or the 23rd.
3. Break into Sub-Committees:
• Outreach- Reported the progress on the upcoming December ‘Lets Talk About it’ program. We discussed a possible approach for Marielle to share her reorganization experience at Tulane. Jeanine will e-mail all of the panelist preliminary questions that they may be asked.
• Staff Enrichment- Trisha Brady volunteered to contact Bill Landry as a possible ‘Let’s Talk About It’ speaker for the next Culture Corner topic ‘Melungeons’. As March will be a busy month for the Committee it was decided to post-pone the Cultural Pot Luck until April.
4. Conclude Meeting
• Things to think about for next meeting- We need to plan our next ‘Culture Corner’ which the committee agrees on the topic of Melungeons. This topic was suggested by Rita Smith Spring/Summer 2004. There was concern that we many not have very many books to support this topic. Sandy Allen is working on checking our holdings for this topic. After the Thanksgiving holidays, we will send out a call for volunteers to help with the new Culture Corner.
• Any last minute business-- The meeting was adjourned.