PLANS FINALIZED FOR DIVERSITY DAY
The campus-wide Diversity Day scheduled for October 2 promises to be an enriching educational and entertaining event, celebrating the diversity that exists within the Lesley community. The day has been planned for attendance of all students, faculty and staff.
The day will feature a approximately sixty workshops covering a wide variety of cultural issues, presented almost entirely by Lesley faculty and staff. Registration for workshops is scheduled for September 16-20. During this week, participants can register either in Charlie's, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., or at Porter Exchange, 3-7 p.m. Early registration is encouraged to ensure a place in a chosen workshop.
Diversity Day is to begin at the First Parish Church of Cambridge in Harvard Square, with a keynote presentation by Cornell West, Ph.D., a professor of Afro-American Studies and Philosophy of Religion at Harvard University. The author of the best-selling book, "Race Matters," West is an expert on the concept of diversity and its positive effect on a community.
Several performances will be interwoven throughout the day of workshops. In "Native American Storytelling with Flutes," Jesse Kalu, visiting from Arizona, will play transformational melodies, interwoven with nature's voices, all emanating from his own unique hand-made, Native American-style bamboo flutes. The day's agenda also includes performances by the Art of Black Dance and Music, and by the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences, in which faculty, staff and students will each present a work of art -- poems, dance, music, or dramatic reading - that reflects his or her cultural background.
No celebration is complete without food. Daka Food Services will offer several ethnic food choices in the Commons Dining Hall. And, the local Cambridge community is also supporting Lesley's Diversity Day. Restaurants along Massachusetts Avenue from the main campus to Porter Square will be offering discounts on food and beverages to all participants wearing a Diversity Day pin. A complete list of participating restaurants will be provided in registration packets.
Diversity Day concludes with a gala entertainment event at Harvard's Sanders Theatre, free and open to all of the Lesley community. Boston television personality Barbara Brilliant will emcee a variety of performances representing the spirit of diversity.
Appearing that evening will be Culture Jam, a band hailing from Trinidad. The group adds Caribbean influences to popular dance music, as well as performing authentic Latin and Calypso music.
In addition, the roster will feature the Timilty Supreme Chorus, comprised of students and teachers from the James P. Timilty Middle School in Boston; and the Lesley Community Choir, under the direction of Paul Cummings.
Rounding out the evening's musical talents will be an exhibition of the Afro-Brazilian martial art Capoeira.
Seating is limited for Cornel West's morning presentation and also for the evening gala performance at Sanders Theatre. Participants are urged to arrive early for these Diversity Day events.
