On Thursday, July 19, 2001, a symposium on Diversity and Multicultural Affairs was conducted at the Dawson Cooperative Extension Building on the campus of Alabama A&M University (AAMU) primarily, for the in-service training of Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) staff. Activities for the one-day event commenced with a greeting and welcome address by AAMU's 1890 Administrator and University Professor Dr. Virginia Caples.
Mr. Ron Williams, Extension head for program planning and development/law enforcement introduced keynote speaker Ms. Patricia A. Hoban Moore, state coordinator of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in Jackson, Mississippi. Ms. Moore's address centered on the symposium theme, Making Our Communities Safe for Differences.
All participants of the symposium attended three small group discussions on disability, sexual orientation and racism. Ms. Phyllis Barrett, a senior rehabilitation counselor of the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services in Huntsville, presented the topic Don't Prejudge Persons With Disabilities. She was assisted by Dr. William Fennessee, assistant professor and coordinator of the Rehabilitation Counseling Education at AAMU, and Mr. Jeff Howard, a welfare-to-work counselor of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs in Scottsboro. Both are disabled individuals. The discussion session was facilitated by Ms. Rosalie Lane, Extension educator for housing and urban community resource development (CRD) at AAMU. The second topic for the small group discussion was Sexual Orientation: Creating a Safe Environment presented by Reverend Jack Wilson, pastor of the Episcopal Church of Nativity in Huntsville. The facilitator for the group discussion was AU Extension Community Health Specialist Dr. Kathleen Tajeu. The third session, Keeping Racism Out of Society and the Workplace, was presented by keynote speaker Ms. Patricia Moore and facilitated by Dr. Willie Larkin, AU Extension CRD specialist.
The afternoon session, Bridging and Celebrating Cultural Differences, was a multicultural activity. AAMU Extension Animal Scientist Dr. Julio Correa, originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, presented Vamos a Hablar Espanol or in English, Let Us Speak Spanish. Multicultural presentations of folk songs, music, dances, international costumes and slide shows were presented by 25 citizens from the Huntsville community who are originally from the countries of Colombia, Japan, Nigeria, Mexico, Philippines, Peru, Scotland, St. Lucia, and the islands of Hawaii.
The symposium ended with closing remarks by ACES' Associate Director Dr. Chinella Henderson and the song, America the Beautiful by the participants. Presiding in this symposium were Mr. Ron Williams for the morning session and Dr. Dony Gapasin, AAMU Extension CRD specialist, for the afternoon session.
Individuals from Chile, Ecuador and Ghana featured multicultural exhibits. Two organizations, the International Students Association of AAMU and the Madison Baptist Association, also joined in the exhibits with arts and crafts and poster displays.