SPRING 2013 Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity | equity.psu.edu

This Issue Powwow Marks 10th Year P.1 Message from Dr. W. Terrell Jones P.1 Richard Santana Speaks P.2 Initiatives Support Service Members P.2 News of Note CLGBTE Award Recognitions P.3 Congratulations to Eileen Ally House Accepting Students P.3 Williams, administrative support Way Pavers Award Ceremony P.3 assistant in Educational Equity’s Karen Kihurani Recognized for LGBT Advocacy P.3 main office, who celebrated Educational Equity Green Paws Recognized P.4 twenty-five years with Penn Rose Baker Recognized for College Diversity P.4 State on February 1. 2013 THON Logo Design P.4 Congratulations to Angela Commissions Visit Penn State Campuses P.4 Steffy, assistant director of our Image: Henry Gong Talent Search program, who received our regional TRIO’s Powwow Marks 10th Year Mid-Eastern Association of Educational Opportunity The annual New Faces of an Ancient People More than one hundred American Indian dancers, Program Personnel (MEAEOPP) Traditional American Indian Powwow celebrated four Native Drum Groups, and twenty-five traditional distinguished service award for its tenth year on April 6 and 7, 2013, at the Mt. artists and vendors from American Indian reserva- Pennsylvania. Nittany Middle School in Boalsburg, Pennsylva- tions and communities across North America and Office of Veterans Programs nia. Penn State has recognized the powwow and Canada travel hundreds, some thousands, of miles welcomes Elisa Van Cise as a its coordinator, John Sanchez (apache), associ- to State College every year for one of the finest counselor/certifying official. ate professor in the College of Communications, Traditional American Indian powwows in or outside in the Faces of Penn State campaign of Indian Country. Native foods such as frybread, Equal Opportunity Center, (http://faces.psu.edu/faces/john-sanchez). Philadelphia welcomes Darlene Continued on page 2 Hatch-Tripp as its new adminis- trative support assistant. Message from the Vice Provost for Upward Bound welcomes Javier Lugo-Ramos, who serves Educational Equity as the counselor in the Upward There is much to note this spring. Halualani and collaboration with the Bound Migrant program. Associates made their on-site visit to the Penn State home page The McNair Scholars University Park campus on February 25 and 26 redesign team has ensured Program welcomes Darlene and collected an array of data; the resulting a high profile for diversity Kolesar as its new administrative Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Scorecard for and inclusion within their support assistant. Penn State will serve as the midpoint assessment major redesign project. Student Support Services of the Framework. We are working with the Office We continue to work with Program welcomes Alicia Kehn of Planning and Institutional Assessment to Penn State’s web content as a new counselor. merge diversity planning into the overall strategic team to feature the stories Wil Del Pilar, director of planning process, as per Core Council of our success. There have Development for Educational recommendations. It was decided to delay the also been year-end Dr. W. Terrell Jones, Vice Equity, successfully defended his strategic planning cycles for both unit planning receptions, awards Provost for Educational Equity doctoral dissertation on March and University-level planning, therefore, we ceremonies, and other 21. Congratulations Dr. Del Pilar! anticipate the next set of unit plans to be celebrations of the accomplishments of our amazing A reception was held on submitted by July 1, 2014. students. Their stories and academic achievements April 2 to honor Bill Welsh for his are always impressive. Also inspiring is the work thirteen years of service as We have also improved our web presence. The each of you do on a day-to-day basis to help our director of the Office for Disability Office for Disability Services has updated its students and our University achieve the greatest Services. Bill has accepted a website to be more user-friendly. The Educational excellence. Thank you. position as executive director of Disability Initiatives at Rutgers Equity home page has been reorganized with an University. “About” page for additional information. And,

314 OLD MAIN, UNIVERSITY PARK, PA 16802 | PHONE: 814-865-5906 | FAX: 814-865-3997 Richard Santana Speaks at Penn State’s University Park and Schuylkill Campuses

Richard Santana is a Harvard- perceptions, to recognize how on March 14, co-sponsored educated, nationally recog- these perceptions influence by the nized speaker who was once a work relationships, effective- Criminal Justice Club and tough-talking, third-generation ness, and productivity, and to CORED. Read more about Latino gangster. His moving become advocates for our most Richard Santana at: accounts of his gang-life challenged youth rather than http:// experiences and how they giving up on them. homeboygoestohar- shaped his beliefs, attitudes, vard.com/ and self-expectations were Santana’s talk at University speakers/richard-santana/. inspiring, unsettling, and Park was the feature of the thought-provoking to audienc- Commission on Racial/Ethnic For more information about es at both University Park and Diversity’s (CORED) open CORED, visit Richard Santana at Schuylkill. He challenged house on March 13 at the Hintz equity.psu.edu/cored. students, faculty, and staff to Family Alumni Center. Santana critically assess their own spoke at Penn State Schuylkill

Initiatives Support Service Members and Veterans Penn State has been involved with the U.S. original and the Post-9/11 GI Bills. “We military for more than 150 years and currently look forward to welcoming veteran and has a number of initiatives that support active-duty military service members and military members and veterans, a population their family members to Penn State, at our that has risen significantly in recent years on campuses and through online studies,” many Penn State campuses as well as the said Rob Pangborn, interim executive vice Image: Patrick Mansell World Campus. The Office of Veterans president and provost. Penn State also Programs provides outreach, certification, participates in the Veterans Administration Visitors to Penn State’s new Veterans and general counseling services for veterans Yellow Ribbon Program, and has been Memorial have honored their loved ones and Department of Veterans Affairs benefits recognized as a military-friendly school. and heroes with keepsakes and items of recipients. Penn State has recently signed Read more at http://news.psu.edu/ personal importance placed at the the new U.S. Department of Defense story/266665/2013/02/27/academics/penn memorial. These items have been Voluntary Education Partnership agreement, -state-signs-educational-partnership- collected and are on display in the Office which re-authorizes Penn State to provide department-defense of Veterans Programs on the third floor of higher education opportunities for those who Boucke Building, University Park campus. use federal educational benefits through the

Powwow Marks 10th Year continued from page 1 corn soup, and buffalo from the northern tribal nations are available for purchase. One hundred fifty local volunteers, including area teachers and Penn State faculty, staff, and students, help make sure the event runs smoothly. More than 6,000 visitors attended the powwow, which has earned a national reputation as an excellent example of honoring family values and remembering American Indian traditions. The highlight of this year’s event was a traditional American Indian wedding, an event not often seen anymore, even at powwows in Indian Country.

The powwow is sponsored jointly by Penn State and the State College Area School District. For more information please visit powwow.psu.edu. Image: Patrick Mansell

Page 2 CLGBTE Award Recognitions

On April 19 at its annual awards ceremony, the 2013 Ally Recognition Award Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Rodney A. Erickson, President Transgender Equity (CLGBTE) recognized the contributions of individuals within the Penn State 2013 Outstanding Service Award: Faculty community who have shown outstanding service regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and Kathleen Bieschke, professor of Counseling Psychology, Department of Educational queer (LGBTQ) concerns. Psychology, Counseling and Special Education, The Ally Recognition Award and the Outstanding College of Education Service Award recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Penn State 2013 Outstanding Service Award: Student LGBTQ community. Current Penn State faculty, Cameron O’Mara, doctoral candidate in staff, and students are eligible for both awards. philosophy, College of the Liberal Arts

The following individuals were recognized:

Ally House now Accepting Students for Fall 2013

The Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Equity (CLGBTE), in partnership with the Office of Residence Life, has established a special living option for LGBT and Ally students at University Park, available for fall 2013 housing. Ally house will be located in Watts Hall in West Halls, and may encompass the entire hall if applications remain as high as anticipated. (Left to Right) Rodney A. Erickson, Angelique Murillo, John Sanchez, and Edwin Escalet Ally House’s designated coordinator and graduate assistant will facilitate programming Way Pavers Award Ceremony through the LGBTA Student Resource Center, Center for the Performing Arts, the The Council of College Multicultural Rodney A. Erickson, President Palmer Museum of Art, Residence Life, and Leadership presented its second annual (Administrator Award); John Sanchez the Sexuality and Gender Studies Minor, Way Pavers awards at a luncheon ceremo- (Apache), associate professor of Commu- with which the special living options is ny on April 2 at The Inn. The nications (Community Member Award); academically aligned. Penn State is the award was created “in honor of those who The Multicultural Admissions and Commu- only University in the Committee on have contributed to supporting diversity nity Affairs Office, represented by Edwin Institutional Cooperation (CIC) to offer an initiatives, which have positively enhanced Escalet (Faculty and Staff Award); and entire building for LGBTQ students and student life and the climate throughout the Angelique Murillo, Bunton-Waller Fellow in their allies. college and local community, while Communication Sciences and Disorders maintaining a high level of character and (Student Award). leadership.” This year’s winners were

Karen Kihurani Recognized for LGBT Advocacy Karen Kihurani, a member of the Commission many years exemplified leadership with LGBTA helping coordinate numerous projects and on Racial/Ethnic Diversity, was honored with activities and support on her campus. She has events. The award was presented during the Dr. Susan R. Rankin Award for Leader- served as adviser to Rainbow Alliance since the Pride Week Rally in March on the ship, Integrity, and Outstanding Contributions 2003, and has consistently created a safe and steps of Old Main. to Penn State. As coordinator of Multicultural supportive space for LGBTQQIA students, Programs at , Karen has for faculty, and staff on her campus, as well as

Page 3 Educational Equity Green Paws Recognized On March 19 President Erickson presented sent the top 1 percent of offices in the Level Four Green Paws certification to four Green Paws program, because only three units in Educational Equity. “Sustainability is other offices have achieved this Level Four COE Dean Monk and Rose Baker being embraced at Penn State and we want distinction from more than eighty offices with every student to graduate with a full under- more than 1,700 Penn Staters working standing of what this approach to decision- through the program. Shelly Aina, Infor- Rose Baker making is and why it is important,” he said, mation Technology manager and chair of addressing the twenty staff who participated in the Educational Equity Green Team, Recognized for the program. Staff from Educational Equity’s remarked, “I am proud and energized by the College Diversity Information Technology, Multicultural Educational Equity commitment to environ- Resource Center, Upward Bound Math and mental stewardship and its far-reaching Rose Baker, co-chair of the Commis- Science Center, and Office for Disability impact on so many aspects of our lives. I sion for Women for 2012–13, was Services received the certificates and framed hope our actions will serve to encourage awarded the College of Education letter from the President. President Erickson others to complete Green Paws certification. Climate Enhancement Award for her went on to note that these four offices repre- We ARE!” contributions to the college’s diversity goals. An assistant professor of 2013 THON Logo Designed by education, Rose has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to diversity Educational Equity Student and improving the work lives of women within the college and the University The 2013 THON logo, chosen from among numerous since coming to Penn State in 2006. submissions, was designed by Lenfest Scholar Jing Wu, a “The contributions Dr. Rose Baker has student in the Graphic Design program in the College of Arts made to this University through work on and Architecture. Jing’s design was featured in THON 2013 the commission is selfless, of high marketing and appeared on posters, t-shirts, mugs, buttons, quality, and is having an impact on and any promotional items representing THON. The logo “was students, staff, and faculty” said Lisa drawn directly from a kid’s point of view,” says Jing, “based on German, associate dean for University their imagination.” It shows “how you can plant a seed and it Libraries and chair-elect of the can grow into anything.” The theme for THON 2013 was Commission for Women. “Inspire Tomorrow’s Miracles.” A three-minute video interview with Jing describing her design can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch v=gCtBADirSd4&feature=youtu.be

Commissions Visit Penn State Campuses Every year, each of the President’s commis- work together to address concerns and sions for equity visits a Penn State campus. celebrate accomplishments. This year, the The visits typically include a tour of the Commission on Racial/Ethnic Diversity visited campus, welcome by the campus chancellor, Penn State Schuylkill; the Commission on opportunity to discuss campus climate and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender concerns with students, faculty, and staff, and Equity visited ; and the informational meetings. Campus meetings Commission for Women visited Penn State help to build stronger partnerships between Abington. the commissions and the campuses as they

Office of the Vice Provost for Educaonal Equity / 314 Old Main, University Park, PA 16802 / Phone: 814‐865‐5906 Fax: 814‐865‐3997 / equity.psu.edu This publicaon is available in alternave media upon request. Penn State is commied to affirmave acon, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce. U.Ed. OVP 13‐27