News Release
October 1998
Over 400 students, teachers, and administrators from 22
Lehigh Valley high schools will participate in a conference on October
13 and 14 at Moravian College focusing on ethnic and cultural diversity.
The conference, titled "The Promise of the Rainbow:
The Challenge of Racial and Ethnic Cultural Diversity in Schools,"
will provide an opportunity to explore issues of racial and cultural
diversity in an open, positive and constructive manner. Moravian College,
in association with First Union National Bank and Just Born Inc, is
sponsoring the annual conference -- now in its seventh year.
The recently crowned Miss Pennsylvania, Mayra Acosta,
currently enrolled in Teacher Certification courses at Moravian, will
address the participants at the start of the program on Tuesday, October
13, at 8:30 a.m. Don Cunningham, Mayor of Bethlehem, will speak to the
group at lunchtime on Tuesday. Dr. Ervin Rokke, Moravian College President,
will speak at the lunch program on Wednesday, October 14.
The goal of the conference is to foster a better understanding
and appreciation of the cultural diversity found today in schools, according
to Dr. John Reynolds, a Moravian political science professor and conference
organizer. The program’s main focus is teaching conflict resolution
skills; this year there’s a special emphasis on commitment.
"It is important that the conference has a lasting
positive impact. This year we are going to ask each participating school
to make a commitment to take a tangible first step in promoting inclusiveness,"
he said. "We will then contact schools in the spring to follow-up
and document their progress. The goal is to then publish and distribute
a booklet, highlighting the year’s progress, to other schools
as an example of what can be done to improve understanding."
"We have the most diverse nation in the world and
it’s important to recognize that there are great benefits to derive
from that diversity," Reynolds said. "Unfortunately there
is also a great deal of pain, hatred, and conflict because of our diversity.
This conference is designed to teach people to embrace the benefits
of diversity."
Approximately 400 high school students are expected to
attend the conference. Participating schools on October 13 include William
Allen, Bethlehem Catholic, Dieruff, Emmaus, Lehigh Valley Christian,
Moravian Academy, Northampton, Parkland, Pleasant Valley, Southern Lehigh,
and Whitehall. The following will participate on October 14: Bethlehem
Area Vocational Technical, Career Institute of Technology, Easton, Freedom,
Liberty, Nazareth, Notre Dame, Phillipsburg, Pocono Mountain, Saucon
Valley, and Stroudsburg.
The conference will be highlighted by a "sociodrama"
workshop – a role-playing experience in which students and teachers
will dramatize situations of potential conflict. The workshop will be
followed by group discussions in which students will examine the sociodrama
situations and explore how their high school experiences are shaped
by cultural diversity. Teachers and administrators from their schools
will join the high school students at the conference. Also attending
will be students and educators from Moravian College and other Lehigh
Valley colleges, and representatives of several community organizations.
The conference will be held at the Prosser Auditorium
in Haupert Union Building (HUB) on Moravian College’s Main Street
campus.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
(Tuesday) repeated on Wednesday
8:00 - 8:30 a.m. Registration: Haupert Union Building (HUB)
8:30 - 9:00 Greetings, Orientation: Prosser Auditorium
9:00 - 10:15 Sociodrama: Prosser
10:30 - 11:45 Discussion Workshop: Who Am I? Who Are They?
Group 1: Snyder Room (HUB)
Group 2: Air Products Room (HUB)
Group 3: Brethrens Room (HUB)
Group 4: United Room (HUB)
Group 5: Comenius Hall, Room 101
Group 6: Comenius Hall, Room 105
Group 7: Comenius Hall, Room 111
Group 8: Comenius Hall, Room 114
Group 9: Prosser Auditorium (HUB)
Group 10: Amrhein Room (HYB)
Group l1: The Doghouse
Group 12: Comenius Hall, Room 218
Noon - 12:45 p.m. Lunch: Johnston Hall
12:45 - 1:30 Leadership Workshop: Conflict Resolution
(Follow schedule for morning group session)
