October 2001

Recent national events have impressed on nearly everyone the importance of being sensitive to cultural differences and also the need to pull together as a Maricopa family so we may all move forward.

In the aftermath, a number of Maricopa Colleges have arranged meetings, events and resources to promote cultural understanding and the healing process. The following are a few of the activities that have occurred in the past month:

Click here to view a dramatic PowerPoint presentation of the Oct. 11 candle lighting ceremony at Estrella Mountain:

Drs. Milton and Janet Bennett demonstrated, through video and interactive activities, how we can increase our intercultural competence by first understanding our personal cultures, then progressing to an increasing understanding of other cultures through our differences.

Rio Salado hosted a college-wide presentation by Drs. Milton and Janet Bennett, renowned educators who focus on "Developing Intercultural Competence." The Bennetts are the directors of the Intercultural Communication Institute in Portland. Their presentation provides approaches and skills that make intercultural communication more effective and rewarding. Topics included the difference between cultural generalizations and stereotypes, and cultural differences in nonverbal behavior and communication style.

Rio Salado is also planning a series of brown bag lunches in October and November focused on topics related to Afghanistan. The first speaker on Friday, October 19, was Dr. Zabioullah Eltezam, an economics adjunct faculty member who teaches at Paradise Valley, Chandler-Gilbert and Rio Salado. "Enduring Freedom." Dr. Eltezam, a native Afghani, delivered a comprehensive presentation educating his audience on Afghanistan, followed by an interactive question & answer session.

Some facts you may not know about Afghanistan:

• "Enduring Freedom" guest speaker, Dr. Eltezam, is the former chairman, Central Bank of Afghanistan, and the former acting minister of commerce, 1992. He was also a professor of economics at Kabul University, 1968-83.

  The country is a little smaller than the state of Texas. The population is about 26 million people.
  
• It is possibly the poorest nation in the world. The average per capita income is about $400 per year. The government collects no taxes.
• The economic system is based on a free market/free enterprise. However, the government imports extensively, especially from Pakistan.
  
• For more than 2,000 years, the nation has been attacked by invaders ranging from Alexander the Great and Ghengis Khan, to nations such as Persia, Turkey, Russia, and Great Britain. Its proximity to a major trade route made it very desirable to outsiders. Since 1929 it has operated as an independent nation.
• Kabul is the capital, with a population of about 2 million people.

Another future speaker in this "Enduring Freedom" series will be Dave Brewster, former executive assistant police chief for the City of Phoenix and the current head of military education programs for the college. Dave spent a tour of duty with the U.S. Army as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. He retired as a lieutenant colonel after serving as the provost marshal for the Arizona Army National Guard. His topics will be "Terrorism" and "21st Century Warfare."

Other special brown bags are being planned to include a representative from the local Islam community and also a presentation on disaster preparedness.

The Diversity Awareness Committee at Glendale Community College sponsored training around the video, "Essential Blue-Eyed." The premise of this video is that unless people have experienced discrimination for themselves, they will never have the motivation to fight it. In "Essential Blue-Eyed," a multiracial group of Midwestern adults are segregated on the basis of eye color. The blue-eyed members are subjected to a regime of humiliation. Viewers are effectively challenged to confront racism at work, in our community and in ourselves every day.

The Maricopa Skill Center has donated $1,000 to the Valley of the Sun United Way Crisis Relief Fund on behalf of families of the victims.

Scottsdale College has a special video collection on many diversity-related topics. These videos are available to employees throughout the Maricopa District. They are also using International Week in November to raise funds for the needs of New York city residents impacted by the Sept. 11 tragedy (see related story in this issue under "Coming Soon! International Week Celebrations.")

At Chandler-Gilbert, 184 international students represent 84 different countries. All of them were invited to a combination pizza party/meeting whereby the college could reinforce its support for them. Approximately 45 students attended. In addition, faculty members initiated open discussions in their respective classrooms.

Diversity Advisory Council
A special meeting of the newly-formed district-wide Diversity Advisory Council took place Friday, October 5. This organization is replacing the former District Diversity Steering Team. (See related article in this issue.) During the session, Governing Board member Linda Rosenthal led 30 participants in discussions regarding the climate at their individual colleges.

This was followed by a brainstorming session on Maricopa's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as pertains to our national crisis. Among the strengths cited were our leadership, good communication, responsiveness, positive behavioral expectations, diversity within our communities, and the presence of international student organizations. Some of our weaknesses were disaster preparedness, and the need for more focus on diversity issues. Opportunities that exist include the new program to infuse diversity into the curriculum and our ability to orient people to our Maricopa values as regards diversity. A perceived threat was negative media influences on certain groups of people.

Considerable feedback was solicited regarding the question, "What can we do to turn our weaknesses into strengths?" Some of the proposed strategies and tools included the utilization of student forums, our websites, MCTV, the new Diversity Helpline, outside speakers, and sharing the Chancellor's recent college-wide letter to students. (See reprint of letter in this issue.) Big picture suggestions included using critical thinking as we watch the news and the establishment of clear-cut boundaries regarding tolerance issues.

Finally, discussion took place regarding the next step to implement these ideas. Suggestions included department chair training, articles in "Expressions" and "EdCetera," dissemination of information to student life directors, and the establishment of college and district initiatives.