By Brian Balboa
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

Multicultural and International Student Services held its second National Coalition Building Institute workshop last week at the Nassau Bay Hilton Hotel.

The one-day workshop, named the Prejudice Reduction Workshop, allows the participants to celebrate their similarities and differences. In addition, the workshop lets participants identify stereotypes, internalized oppression and gain empowerment by learning how to deal with various types of discrimination.

NCBI, founded in 1984, has chapters in more than 50 college campuses across the United States. The institute has also been effectively implemented in hundreds of corporations, community groups, churches and synagogues around the world.

The process of launching an NCBI campus diversity program at UH-Clear Lake was initiated in June with a one-day workshop. The university is now officially designated as a NCBI affiliate.

"It is a mechanism to confront prejudice and discrimination and any of the countless ism's that we deal with," said Linda Bullock, director of Multicultural and International Student Services. "It is a way of looking at diversity issues from a healing and coalition building standpoint."

Bullock, who was instrumental in bringing NCBI to UH-Clear Lake, said what distinguishes this workshop from others is that it goes to the core of why people are discriminated against instead of simply telling people what diversity and prejudice are.

The first NCBI workshop Bullock attended was two years ago in Washington, D.C., and since that time Bullock has been working to bring the training to UH-Clear Lake.

"My hope is that the majority of the university will go through the training and we'll all be more knowledgeable and have the skills to deal with whatever issues we face," Bullock said. "I think the entire university needs to be aware of how to confront the issues and to be able to deal with them and work them out."

One UH-Clear Lake faculty member who helped and supported Bullock in starting the NCBI workshop is Darlene Biggers, dean of students. Biggers also attended her first NCBI workshop two years ago.

"We both came back from our separate experiences and talked about it and really, really liked it," Biggers said.

Biggers said one of the obstacles to any new initiative is finding resources to fund it. Because the NCBI workshops are an initiative to increase the awareness of the entire university staff and students, Biggers said she felt university funding should support it.

The workshop initiative was submitted to university administration as a priority two years ago. Last year, Multicultural and International Student Services received $15,000 for one year to experiment with the NCBI workshops. Biggers said one priority for this year is to request permanent funding for diversity training.

"We think that there's so much to learn about other cultures and how people learn differently in other cultures," Biggers said. "It's a very non-threatening kind of training. I've experienced quite a lot of diversity training from those that have been highly confrontational to those that are highly supportive. This is more appropriate for a large group because it really honors all kinds of diversity."

Both Biggers and Bullock said the first workshop for UH-Clear Lake was a success and that student feedback was very positive. Reaction and feedback for the second workshop was also very positive.

"Sensitivity training is always useful," said Priscilla Gaton, business major. "It helps lower discrimination and lower stereotypes. It also diversifies the mindset of individuals to other cultures, beliefs or rituals. It is necessary since there are so many minority students at the school."

The workshops also received positive feedback from UH-Clear Lake President William Staples.

"Whether [UH-Clear Lake] would be the first to do it, or the second, or the third or the 31st to do it, I think it's the right thing to do," Staples said. "So I applaud them for taking the initiative in Multicultural and International Student Services and I applaud Dr. Biggers as dean of students for encouraging that kind of activity."

Staples said one of the reasons to implement diversity training at UH-Clear Lake is because of its changing environment. In addition, Staples said institutions and universities that don't respond to their environment will be in trouble.

"If you don't respond to your environment, then you're not going to have a very timely institution," Staples said. "We're not the same institution in 2002 that we were in 1992 and we won't be the same institution in 2012 that we are right now."

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