COLA Diversity Event | Photo by Monica Brutto | The Wright State Guardian
On April 11, community leaders, faculty of the College of Liberal Arts and Wright State alumni gathered in Millett Hall to discuss the topic of diversity in the Dayton area.
The discussion
The COLA diversity event aimed to bring alumni, employer partners, internship providers and community leaders together to talk and celebrate diversity in alumni through race, ethnicity and socioeconomic background, according to Wayne Stark, a career consultant at career services.
“We also have our inclusive excellence team here to represent the underrepresented populations here on campus,” Stark said.
A variety of groups from the Dayton area attended the discussion, ranging from faculty of both COLA and other colleges, alumni from Wright Patterson Air Force Base, museum activists and administrations at Wright State, according to Stark.
“The underrepresented groups are being showcased as distinguished panelists and representatives of different organizations and had a free-flowing discussion with a lot of networking amongst each other as well as with students,” Stark said.
Mackenzie Snare, a museum activist and WSU graduate, shared why the discussion was important for everyone and not just underrepresented groups.
“Most of the people involved were graduates from Wright State, especially from the liberal arts program. Ohio can be a very non-diverse place, so it’s important events like these are held,” Snare said.
Nicolyn Woodcock, the assistant director of the Asian and Native American Center, supported this idea of bringing more attention to diversity in the Dayton area and especially the Wright State campus.
“Sometimes, it is hard to acknowledge folks from underrepresented backgrounds despite them doing work in the community. They came through Wright State in one way or another, obtained a bachelor’s or master’s degree and stayed to help the community, which is awesome about tonight,” Woodcock expressed.
According to Woodcock, Wright State University is attractive to students due to affordability, which increases the socioeconomic diversity of the student body and brings a different aspect of diversity on campus.
“Furthermore, Wright State is rated highly for its accessibility for disabled people, so we’ll continue leaning into our strengths as well as attempt to increase other diversity aspects,” Woodcock explained.
For more information about diversity and inclusion on campus, visit the WSU Inclusive Excellence website.
