DPS & the United Minorities Council Partner for Annual MLK Symposium
Every year the Division of Public Safety hosts an event as part of Penn’s Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Symposium on Social Change to bring together members of the community to discuss issues around race and ethnicity. This event is very important to me and my peers within the University administration as it afford us yet another opportunity to have an open dialogue on a very sensitive and important issue.
This year DPS partnered with the United Minorities Council to hold a panel discussion called “Race Relations at Penn: Past, Present, & Future” on Wednesday, January 27th. Joining me on the panel was University Chaplain, Reverend Charles Howard; Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs, Ajay Nair; and Mariama Perry, Political Chair of the United Minorities Council. We began by viewing a video segment about the “Water Buffalo incident”, a high-profile incident of racial tension at Penn in 1993, from the 2004 documentary, “The Other Side of Perfect,” produced by the Race Dialogue Project, a group affiliated with the Greenfield Intercultural Center. Using this incident as the baseline for race relations, the panel discussed what improvements have been made in the campus climate around race in the 17 years since. This is not to say that Penn is a perfect place when it comes to race, and problems will come up from time to time. But the lessons that we have learned from each incident have better enabled the University to work with its students, building relationships keep the lines of dialogue open; and communication is the key.
A Q&A session from the audience followed, which raised many great questions that had the panel look at the different aspects of diversity, perception, and how Penn works to improve the relationship between its students, faculty, staff, and our West Philadelphia neighbors.
Penn takes great pride in its approach toward diversity. I can specifically speak to our Division’s initial on-boarding processes and our continued diversity training program that orient our officers and dispatchers to the complex identity and culture issues they will undoubtedly encounter as they protect the Penn Community.
These events truly demonstrate that “it’s all about relationships” and the lines of communication that these relationships open that enable us to grow stronger as a community, though not without some growing pains. I’m grateful for the relationships I’ve built between the minority communities on campus and the Division of Public Safety that made this event possible. And I know that these relationships will continue to grow in celebration of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
This year DPS partnered with the United Minorities Council to hold a panel discussion called “Race Relations at Penn: Past, Present, & Future” on Wednesday, January 27th. Joining me on the panel was University Chaplain, Reverend Charles Howard; Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs, Ajay Nair; and Mariama Perry, Political Chair of the United Minorities Council. We began by viewing a video segment about the “Water Buffalo incident”, a high-profile incident of racial tension at Penn in 1993, from the 2004 documentary, “The Other Side of Perfect,” produced by the Race Dialogue Project, a group affiliated with the Greenfield Intercultural Center. Using this incident as the baseline for race relations, the panel discussed what improvements have been made in the campus climate around race in the 17 years since. This is not to say that Penn is a perfect place when it comes to race, and problems will come up from time to time. But the lessons that we have learned from each incident have better enabled the University to work with its students, building relationships keep the lines of dialogue open; and communication is the key.
A Q&A session from the audience followed, which raised many great questions that had the panel look at the different aspects of diversity, perception, and how Penn works to improve the relationship between its students, faculty, staff, and our West Philadelphia neighbors.
Penn takes great pride in its approach toward diversity. I can specifically speak to our Division’s initial on-boarding processes and our continued diversity training program that orient our officers and dispatchers to the complex identity and culture issues they will undoubtedly encounter as they protect the Penn Community.
These events truly demonstrate that “it’s all about relationships” and the lines of communication that these relationships open that enable us to grow stronger as a community, though not without some growing pains. I’m grateful for the relationships I’ve built between the minority communities on campus and the Division of Public Safety that made this event possible. And I know that these relationships will continue to grow in celebration of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Labels: MLK, UMC, United Minorities Council
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