News Release
March 2004

Promise of the Rainbow Conference to address issues of cultural diversity

Area high schools get together at Moravian for 14th annual conference

(Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) -- Moravian College, in association with Just Born, Inc., will host the 14th annual “Promise of the Rainbow: The Challenge of Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Schools” conference on Tuesday, March 23 and Wednesday, March 24. Hundreds of students, teachers, and administrators from the Lehigh Valley and surrounding area high schools will participate in a conference that provides an opportunity to explore issues of racial and cultural diversity in an open, positive and constructive manner.

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.”

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 from 8:00 a.m. to noon at the Prosser Auditorium in Haupert Union Building (HUB) on Moravian College’s Main Street campus. Schools participating on March 23 are Bethlehem Catholic High School, Freedom High School, Wilson Area High School, Bethlehem Area Vocational Technical School, Parkland Senior High School, Emmaus High School, Palisades High School, and Northampton High School. Schools participating on March 24 are Liberty High School, Career Institute of Technology, Upward Bound – East Stroudsburg University, Moravian Academy, Phillipsburg High School, Bangor Area High School, Pleasant Valley High School, Southern Lehigh High School, Whitehall High School, and Nazareth High School.