DIVISION OF DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Celebrations and Partnerships
CONTENTS
Celebrations and Partnerships in Diversity and Community Engagement
3 Message from Dr. Vincent 4 Celebrations
4 Community Leadership Awards 8 A Special Evening of Honors 12 Heman Marion Sweatt Family Gathers
14 Partnerships
14 Garden to Table: A Recipe for Success 17 Harvest Foundation Helps Launch Center 19 Project MALES Makes Its Mark 21 X-Y Zone is Homegrown 23 NHI’s Great Debate 25 Service Scholars Lead 27 STEER Week: A Preview of Campus Life
CREDITS: Dr. Gregory J. Vincent, Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement Robiaun Charles, Assistant Vice President for Development and External Relations Deb Duval, Executive Director, Development and External Relations Leslie Blair, Director of Communications Managing Editor: Leslie Blair Graphic Design: Ron Bowdoin Writers: Leslie Blair, Meg Halpin, Jill Hokanson and Sherry Reddick Copy Editor: Laurie Filipelli Proofreaders: Heather Halstead and Hannah Beck Photographers: Brian Birzer, Bret Brookshire, Steven Ditto, Jill Hokanson, Emily Kinsolving and Sherry Reddick Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved. The University of Texas at Austin, Division of Diversity and Community Engagement
2
The University of Texas at Austin • Division of Diversity and Community Engagement • CELEBRATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS
MESSAGE from Dr. Vincent Dear Friends: We hope you enjoy Celebrations and Partnerships. This supplement to the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement 2010–2011 Impact Report features select DDCE highlights from the 2011 calendar year. A complete impact report reflecting our achievements for the 2011–2012 academic year will be published early in the fall semester, but in the meantime we are eager to celebrate a handful of notable events and projects. As I have said many times, the division’s outstanding work would not be possible without the support of The University of Texas at Austin President Bill Powers and Provost Steven Leslie. Nor could we carry out our work without our many campus and community partners. I hope you will be inspired by what you see here and that you will look forward to reading more in the fall.
Best wishes,
Dr. Gregory J. Vincent Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement W. K. Kellogg Professor in Community College Leadership Professor of Law
CELEBRATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS • Division of Diversity and Community Engagement • The University of Texas at Austin
3
Celebrations During the past five years, the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement has been honored to recognize outstanding community members and alumni of The University of Texas at Austin at our annual Community Leadership Awards. These muchanticipated community events celebrate those who have helped make great strides in civil rights, social justice and education in Austin. This year, in addition to our Community Leadership Award celebrations, we held a Special Evening of Honors at the 25th Annual Heman Sweatt Symposium on Civil Rights, where we honored undeniable trailblazers— many of the first African Americans to attend UT Austin and others who were instrumental in the integration of the university.
2011 Community Leadership Awards Presented May 11, 2011 at
The Etter-Harbin Alumni Center Community Partnership Award The Network of Asian American Organizations
Community Leadership Circle Awards Dr. Martha Jee Wong Dr. George C. Chang Mr. Ali Raza Khataw
Legacy Award Dr. Mitchel Wong
4
Presented October 6, 2011 at
The Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center Community Partnership Awards
Presented December 13, 2011 at
The George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center Community Partnership Awards
Hispanic Scholarship Consortium
Austin Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Incorporated
Las Comadres Para Las Americas
Town Lake Links Incorporated
St. David’s Foundation
National Forum for Black Public Administrators–Central Texas Chapter
Community Leadership Circle Awards Ms. Sylvia Acevedo, CommuniCard LLC Mr. Sam Coronado, Coronado Studios Ms. Pilar Sanchez, Housing Authority of the City of Austin
Special Recognition In Memoriam Dr. Janis Guerrero-Thompson, Austin Independent School District
Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long Legacy Award Dr. Gonzalo Garza, retired associate superintendent, Austin Independent School District
Community Leadership Circle Awards Dr. Meria Carstarphen, superintendent of Austin Independent School District Mr. Albert Hawkins, retired executive commissioner of Texas Health and Human Services Mr. Michael McDonald, assistant city manager for public safety services, City of Austin Mr. Marc Ott, city manager for the City of Austin
Dr. June Brewer Legacy Award Mr. Michael Lofton, founder and executive director of the African American Men and Boys Harvest Foundation
CELEBRATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS • Division of Diversity and Community Engagement • The University of Texas at Austin
5
2011 Community Leadership Awards 1. Angel Zhou and Dr. Mitchel Wong
1
2. Amina Khataw, Zainab Khataw, Razia Khataw
3
3. Channy Soeur, Ali Raza Khataw, Dr. George Chang, Dr. Gregory J. Vincent, Dr. Martha Jee Wong, Dr. Mitchel Wong, Dr. Madeline Hsu 4. Pilar Sanchez 5. Diana Maldonado and Dr. Gonzalo Garza 6. Back row: Dr. Gonzalo Garza, President Bill Powers, Joe Long, Chuck Thompson (husband of Janis Guerrero-Thompson), Dr. Gregory J. Vincent, Marisa Limon Front row: Pauline Guerrero, Elizabeth Garcia, Pilar Sanchez, Sam Coronado, Teresa Lozano Long, Dr. David Garcia
5
6
2
6
4
7
8
9
10
7. Dr. Gregory J. Vincent, Toni Williams, Albert Hawkins, Michael Lofton, Michael McDonald, Gwen Greene, Anthony Snipes, Meria Carstarphen, Marc Ott, President Bill Powers 8. Members of the Austin Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Incorporated 9. President Bill Powers, Rev. Dr. Victoria Pratt-Davis, Dr. King Davis 10. Dr. George Chang and guest at the Asian American Community Leadership Awards 11. Three guests at the MACC Community Leadership Awards
11 12
12. Effie Gilder and Crystal Wiltz at the Carver Community Leadership Awards
7
“Our hearts were full of joy”
A Special Evening of Honors Celebrates Heman Sweatt Legacy Award Recipients This year the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement honored undeniable trailblazers at A Special Evening of Honors held during the 25th Annual Heman Sweatt Symposium on Civil Rights. Some of the first African American students to attend The University of Texas at Austin, as well faculty, staff, and community members instrumental in the ongoing integration of the university were among those recognized. The Heman Marion Sweatt Legacy Awards pay tribute to Heman Marion Sweatt, the first African American admitted to The University of Texas School of Law in 1950. Among the award recipients was alumnus John Chase, who enrolled in the School of Architecture just two days after the 1950 decision in Sweatt v. Painter was announced. Other honorees included Precursors such as Mr. Lonnie Fogle, Ms. Maudie Ates Fogle, Ret. Colonel Leon Holland, Ms. Peggy Drake Holland, Mr. James Means Jr., Ms. Barbara Smith Conrad and Mr. William Spearman, all undergraduates in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Dr. W. Charles Akins, Mr. Gary Bledsoe, Mr. Randy Bowman, Ms. Brenda Burt, Dr. John Sibley Butler, The Honorable Wilhelmina Delco and Dr. Exalton Delco Jr., The Honorable Rodney G. Ellis, Dr. Edmund T. Gordon, Ms. Choquette Hamilton, Dr. James L. Hill, Dr. Ira Iscoe and Ms. Louise Iscoe, Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson, Dr. John Q. Taylor King, The Honorable Ron Kirk, Dr. Reuben McDaniel, The Honorable Harriet Murphy, Dr. Wanda L. Nelson, Dr. Barbara W. White, Mr. Marlen Whitley, The Heman Marion Sweatt Family and The Heman Sweatt Symposium Inaugural Committee were also honored at this special event. As one of the honorees said, “Our hearts were full of joy and appreciation.” That was true for all who attended.
Mary Hood, Colonel Leon Holland (Ret.), Peggy Holland, Dr. Soncia Reagins-Lilly and Dr. Aileen Bumphus at the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center, May 6, 2011
CELEBRATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS • Division of Diversity and Community Engagement • The University of Texas at Austin
9
1 2
3
A Special Evening of Honors 1. Dr. Gregory J. Vincent and Michael Gibson
4
2. Neil Iscoe, Louise Iscoe, Dr. Ira Iscoe
5 6
7
3. Three of the more than 300 guests who attended. 4. Dr. William Sweatt, Dr. James Sweatt IV, Heman Marion Sweatt 5. President Bill Powers and guest 6. Katherine Antwi-Green and Erica Sรกenz 7. Edward Roby and Robiaun Charles 8. Two guests who attended 9. Marlen Whitley, Choquette Hamilton, Randy Bowman
8
9
11
1 2
3
Sweatt Family Carries on Culture of Education and Discipline As part of the Heman Marion Sweatt Symposium on Civil Rights speaker series, members of the Sweatt family shared their memories in a discussion with Gary Lavergne, director of admissions research and policy analysis at The University of Texas at Austin and author of the award-winning book Before Brown: Heman Marion Sweatt, Thurgood Marshall and the Long Road to Justice. In front of a full audience in John Hargis Hall, Lavergne interviewed Heman Marion Sweatt’s nephew, Dr. James Sweatt III, and great nephews, Dr. William Sweatt and Heman Marion Sweatt. Sweatt’s daughter, Dr. Hemella Sweatt, joined the discussion via Skype. The youngest members of the Sweatt family were in attendance as well—grandnieces Katarina and Cristina Sweatt and their younger brother, William Sweatt. Though only in the sixth grade, the countdown to a higher education is already on for the twin girls. “Everybody knows they’re going to go to college, and going to work hard,” said their father, Dr. William Sweatt, who is a gastroenterologist. “It’s a culture in this family.”
The family’s culture of education precedes Heman Marion Sweatt, the first African American student admitted to The University of Texas at Austin School of Law. His father, James Leonard Sweatt Sr., was one of ten graduates of Prairie View A&M’s class of 1890. Dr. Hemella Sweatt, now a board-certified physician in dermatopathology and anatomic pathology, remembered connecting with her father through scientific discussions. “Science was the one thing we always talked about together,” she said. “He knew facts about everything, and I would sometimes memorize facts just to be able to tell him something.” Dr. William Sweatt also went into medicine because of his love of science. “I think it’s a gene that runs in the family,” he said. “We love facts.” When Lavergne asked Dr. William Sweatt’s father, Dr. James Sweatt, if he intentionally tried to instill a love of science in his son, he replied, “No, I just tried to instill a love of education.”
1. Members of the Sweatt family met with students and staff in the Multicultural Engagement Center as part of their visit to campus during the Heman Sweatt Symposium on Civil Rights. 2. Heman Marion Sweatt, Katarina Sweatt, Cristina Sweatt, William Sweatt Jr., Ana Sweatt, Dr. William Sweatt, Dr. James Sweatt IV 3. Katarina Sweatt, William Sweatt Jr., Dr. William Sweatt, Cristina Sweatt CELEBRATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS • Division of Diversity and Community Engagement • The University of Texas at Austin
13
Partnerships A major part of the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement’s work involves helping the university meet its goal to serve all people of Texas. In doing so, we have dedicated ourselves to supporting the success of underserved students within the K-16 education pipeline. Therefore, six out of the seven partners we have chosen to highlight have played outstanding roles in educating and serving students from populations historically underrepresented at the university. Another partnership that we feature focuses on supporting University of Texas at Austin students as they dedicate themselves to community service.
A Recipe for Success It takes a village, or at least a few good partners, to get kids to eat their brussels sprouts! UT Elementary School students participated in Garden to Table, a DDCE community incubator project started by local chef and food writer Toni Tipton-Martin. Last June, when the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) met in Austin, Tipton-Martin arranged for IACP chefs to join students at the school’s garden. They picked vegetables together, and then everyone went off to Whole Foods Culinary Institute where the chefs—including White House pastry chef Bill Yosses—helped the students cook. Cookware was provided to all students and their families by Le Creuset.
1. White House chef Bill Yosses inspects the gardens at UT Elementary School with fourth-grade teacher Sara Hilgers and students. 2. Will Copenhaver, Le Creuset director of communications, Alaijah Hargrove, Thomas Patino, Jeremiah Alvarado, Dr. Gregory J. Vincent 3. Raven Wooden serves up salad greens from the school garden to Kiya Clay. 4. Chefs from around the world taught students valuable new cooking skills in the Whole Foods Culinary Institute kitchen.
14
1
2 3
4
AAMB Harvest Foundation Partnership with DDCE Sparks Success African American middle and high school students in Austin now have a one-stop resource center for services that range from tutoring to health screenings thanks to the vision of Michael Lofton, CEO and founder of the African American Men and Boys Harvest Foundation, Inc (AAMBHF). When the Harvest Foundation became the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement’s first community incubator project, it moved from Lofton’s garage to a small space at the DDCE Community Engagement Center on East 11th Street. The foundation originally focused on weekend educational conferences and workshops at a few schools. While offering these important services, Lofton envisioned an accessible resource center that could serve students every day. With the support of the DDCE, the Harvest Foundation increasingly garnered city, county and state support to make this dream a reality. In August 2011 the 13,000 square-foot African American Youth Resource Center held its grand opening. The facility houses both city and nonprofit service providers offering assistance on issues including teen pregnancy, parenting, health education and college preparation. Joining these
services under one roof, Lofton believes, will help address unmet critical needs of Austin’s African American youth. “You can’t just have a conference once a year and think that you fix the problem, or once a month,” said Lofton. “You have to put some resources in place on a daily basis.” Freddie Dixon, director of the DDCE Community Engagement Center, assisted in securing support for the resource center. “It has been a tremendous outpouring of support from the Austin community,” said Dixon. “We have long awaited programs and projects for this community that would benefit us greatly, and Michael’s dream in making a one-stop accessible center for tutoring, for health, for examinations for young kids will do that.” Lofton also credits Dr. Gregory J. Vincent, vice president for diversity and community engagement, for his backing. Vincent said, “The fundamental mission of The University of Texas at Austin is to connect the resources of the university to the needs of the community. That has been our role in working with the Harvest Foundation, and we are honored to have a played a part in getting this much-needed resource center up and running.”
Michael Lofton cuts the ribbon to the new African American Youth Resource Center as others including Ron Davis, Rev. Freddie Dixon and Dr. Gregory J. Vincent (far right) look on.
CELEBRATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS • Division of Diversity and Community Engagement • The University of Texas at Austin
17
1
2 3
4
5
Project MALES Makes Its Mark Nationally Research by Dr. Victor Sáenz, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Administration at The University of Texas at Austin and a Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE) faculty fellow, has helped elevate the plight of Latino males in higher education to the national spotlight. With support from the DDCE as well as the Center for Mexican American Studies, the Federal Research Bank of Dallas and TG, Sáenz launched the Project MALES initiative last year and held a first-ever symposium at the university dedicated to Latino male educational achievement. The symposium was a huge success with more than 250 educators, researchers, policymakers, community members, students and parents in attendance. Since then, a research brief authored by Sáenz and his co-principal investigator, Dr. Luis Ponjuan from the University of Florida, has been published by The Institute for Higher Education Policy and the Pathways to College Network. The brief, Men of Color: Ensuring the Academic Success of Latino Males in Higher Education, provides a blueprint of program examples and action steps to best support Latino males on their journey to and through college and into the workforce.
“From the start of this project, we have been committed to the dual goals of increasing awareness as well as moving towards action. Project MALES affords the opportunity to do just that as our research findings directly inform the work with our Latino male mentoring program,” said Sáenz. “Our research also informed the blueprint for action, which we hope will serve as a useful guide for institutions that are committed to addressing the emerging crisis facing Latino males in education.” A second Latino Male Symposium will be held at UT Austin this spring during the Heman Sweatt Symposium on Civil Rights, sponsored by the DDCE. According to Sáenz, one of the goals of the 2012 symposium is to engage partners from two-year and four-year institutions across the state in meaningful dialogue about their efforts at addressing the Latino male education crisis. Sáenz said, “We have learned much from our collaborations in the last year, and the symposium represents a great opportunity to share these insights with other key stakeholders.”
1. Symposium attendees Sergio Falcon, Nestor Falcon and Sergio Falcon Jr. 2. Dr. Victor Sáenz, founder of Project MALES, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Administration and DDCE Faculty Fellow 3. Patrick Patterson and P. J. Winston, coordinator of the X-Y Zone at Travis High School 4. Eric Arellano and Christian Corrales, University of Texas at San Antonio 5. The Project MALES staff: Sarah Rodriguez, Taryn Ozuna, Veronica Pecero, Dr. Victor Sáenz, Milagros Lopez, Beth Bukowski, Manuel Gonzales, Charles Lu CELEBRATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS • Division of Diversity and Community Engagement • The University of Texas at Austin
19
Homegrown X-Y Zone is National Model for Helping Young Men With a mission to empower young men and reduce the drop-out rate, the X-Y Zone began as a small Communities in Schools program at one Austin high school and has now spread to eight other school districts in Texas and Louisiana. Touted as a national model for meeting the needs of hard-toreach youth, the X-Y Zone has been featured in Leonard Pitts’ nationally syndicated column, on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, and in two reports by the College Board Advocacy and Policy Center. The program offers an innovative curriculum that includes job readiness services, support groups, mentoring and community service projects. Dr. Gregory J. Vincent, vice president for diversity and community engagement, was instantly sold after meeting participating students. Vincent serves on the Communities in Schools board and sponsors an annual fundraising event for X-Y Zone called Men of Honor. “When you meet the young men in the program, they shake your hand, and look at you in the eye. It is apparent they have purpose,” Vincent said.
Francisco Rivera, Reagan High School graduate and former X-Y Zone participant, spoke before an audience of 250 at the Latino Male Symposium held at The University of Texas at Austin last June. “The X-Y Zone staff showed me what type of leader I am,” he said. “Without them I wouldn’t be wearing a suit.” He credits his mentor, Wilton Harris, the Reagan High School program coordinator, with helping him develop leadership and public speaking skills. For six years Harris has successfully recruited 40 to 55 students each year. Harris requires participants to wear suits, as well as read leading industry magazines like Forbes. He assigns them duties such as public speaking and promotion at events and takes them on field trips, including visits to college campuses. “My goal is that all my young men have an opportunity to go to college,” Harris said. “Even for those who say they don’t want to go, I tell them it’s still a requirement of this program that you apply. Then when they get an acceptance letter—to see their excitement is so wonderful.”
Robert Bachicha, program coordinator, X-Y Zone; P.J. Winston, LBJ High School coordinator for X-Y Zone; Pablo Ruiz Diaz, LBJ High School graduate; Wilton Harris, Reagan High School coordinator for X-Y Zone; Francisco Rivera, Reagan High School graduate
CELEBRATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS • Division of Diversity and Community Engagement • The University of Texas at Austin
21
1 2
3
The Great Debate Brings Friendly Rivalries, High-Achieving Hispanic Students to Campus Rivalries run so deep at the Texas Ambassador Great Debate that former participants gather the night before to trade stories and make predictions about which teams will be competitive this year. The annual competition, sponsored each summer by the National Hispanic Institute (NHI), involves high-achieving high school students who have just completed their freshman year. The students are given the general theme of the Great Debate months in advance, but only learn of the exact topic the evening before the competition. This year NHI entered into a three-year partnership with the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE) to hold the event at The University of Texas at Austin. Nearly 300 students from Baytown, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Laredo, the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio and Seguin competed on campus. Debates were also held at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Austin College in Sherman, and Texas A&M–Kingsville as well as at several colleges out of state. In addition, there are plans to engage parents of NHI students and NHI project administrators in an exploratory qualitative research project to be undertaken by Dr. Victor
Sáenz, a DDCE faculty fellow and Dr. Rose Martinez, executive director of DDCE’s UT Outreach–San Antonio and UT Outreach–Rio Grande Valley. Ernesto Nieto started NHI as a special education teacher in 1981. “I could see that our kids couldn’t write very well, couldn’t spell. SAT scores were low even when they had good grades.” Nieto wanted to increase the students’ verbal acumen while developing leadership skills, cognitive thinking and a service ethic. Through the debate programs and their volunteer, student-run formats, NHI has accomplished those goals for thousands of students during the past 30 years. Martinez said the partnership between the DDCE and NHI is a perfect fit. “It takes more than one organization to promote higher education to students who are first-generation college students,” explained Martinez. “NHI encourages students to participate politically and use their intellectual ability to change the world. That’s the crux of NHI. It perfectly aligns with the mission of The University of Texas at Austin.”
1. The Great Debate is a chance for rising high school sophomores to learn team and debate skills. 2. Practice makes for a perfect performance in the Great Debate. 3. Strategy is important, too!
CELEBRATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS • Division of Diversity and Community Engagement • The University of Texas at Austin
23
UT Service Scholars: Leading and Learning Since March of 2011, 54 students have been inducted into the UT Service Scholars, a new program that provides leadership training to students who commit to at least 100 hours of community service each year. A partnership between the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE) and the LBJ School of Public Affairs, the program raises student community service to a new level. Cheryl Sawyer, director of community resource development in the DDCE, explained, “Our students who are committed to community service often don’t get recognition for their outstanding work, and often the service isn’t integrated into their educational experiences. The UT Service Scholars program recognizes their efforts and provides a framework for students who want to strengthen their commitment to community service and engage in deeper learning about leadership and the impact of service beyond the scope of traditional volunteering.”
“The Service Scholars program helps meet the university’s goal to educate a new generation of highly skilled leaders who will go back and serve their communities,” said Dr. Gregory J. Vincent, vice president for diversity and community engagement. “The students are role models for other students as well, encouraging them to serve.” At the Service Scholars orientation in September, LBJ School of Public Affairs Dean, Dr. Robert Hutchings, told the scholars, “We’re passionate about public service here…. There is no modern president who cared more about the underrepresented, underprivileged, underfed and underhoused than LBJ, so this program is a perfect fit for us.”
After a rigorous application process, students accepted in UT Service Scholars must commit to a series of bi-monthly service seminars conducted by LBJ School of Public Affairs faculty. Students are not officially inducted in the program until they have completed 50 hours of service. University of Texas at Austin Service Scholars meet twice a month for service seminars conducted by LBJ School of Public Affairs faculty.
Dr. Gregory J. Vincent and Dr. Robert Hutchings
CELEBRATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS • Division of Diversity and Community Engagement • The University of Texas at Austin
25
Kashmere STEER Week Immerses Houston Ninth Graders into Life on Campus The twenty 13- and 14-year-olds who clambered out of a Houston ISD school bus last June were in for a field trip like no other. Over the next five days they would be thoroughly steeped in the college lifestyle, experiencing lectures from UT Austin faculty members, academic discussions, treks to nearby spots like the Texas History Museum and the State Capitol building, and a college staple—movie night. “This is the first time that we brought rising ninth graders to campus for an entire week,” said Dr. Kenya Walker, executive director of Pre-College Academic Readiness Programs in the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement and the director of UT Outreach–Houston. For more than two decades, the outreach center has brought incoming high school students to the university for a much shorter one-night stay called Academic Challenge. Walker explained that last year the outreach center fostered a new relationship with Paul Hardin, the principal at Kashmere High School. “He was excited about what UT Outreach had to offer and decided to collaborate with us for the STEER week,” she said. Students Taking Every Educational Route (STEER) is part of UT Outreach–Houston’s mission to demystify college. The
program works to build a strong pipeline from HISD—and Kashmere High School in particular—straight to institutions of postsecondary learning, empowering students to see college as a place where they can thrive. According to Walker, many of the students had never been out of the Houston area, and for most, it was their first time in Austin and on the campus. Before heading back to Houston, the soon-to-be ninth graders sat down with a panel of UT students to talk about what college was like for them. Students from the Longhorn Center for Academic Excellence and the Multicultural Engagement Center talked about their own experiences at UT and shared their advice on how to succeed in high school and stay on the path to a college degree. “The program was fantastic and it was great to see the role UT can play in the development of inner-city kids,” said Associate Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement Leonard Moore, who gave the students a rollicking history lesson during their stay. “The one-week program exposed them to the college experience, and we hope that STEER Week helps Houston ISD create a collegegoing culture.”
Kashmere freshmen had the opportunity to meet professors like Dr. Leonard Moore. CELEBRATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS • Division of Diversity and Community Engagement • The University of Texas at Austin
27
DIVISION OF DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The Division of Diversity and Community Engagement advances socially just learning and working environments that foster a culture of excellence through diverse people, ideas and perspectives. We engage in dynamic community-university partnerships designed to transform our lives.
WWW.UTEXAS.EDU/DIVERSITY/
Division of Diversity and Community Engagement The University of Texas at Austin Flawn Academic Center, Suite 402 1 University Station, G4600 Austin, Texas 78712 • 512-471-2557