Carnegie Mellon Celebrates Diversity During Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Author and Historian Darlene Clark Hine to Give Keynote Address

Darlene Clark Hine, the Board of Trustees Professor of African American Studies and Professor of History at Northwestern University, will give the keynote address, "Freedom Is Our Business: Black Professionals Before the Modern Civil Rights Movement."

It's a "Day On," not a "Day Off."

While most universities choose to close offices and cancel classes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Carnegie Mellon annually takes the opportunity to celebrate King's life and work with a series of afternoon activities aimed at stimulating discussion and reflection on the importance of diversity in the university community.

Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon has often said that diversity is more than just numbers and quotas. "It's about differences in religious beliefs, ethnicity, sexual orientation, as well as gender, race and anything and everything else that makes each of us unique. I want Carnegie Mellon to be a place that celebrates these diversities rather than merely tolerating them, because being a more diverse institution will make us a better institution," Cohon says in his Statement on Diversity.

"In the classroom, studio, laboratory, office and dormitory, a multitude of experiences, perspectives and beliefs will enrich all that we do. Carnegie Mellon's highest goals will be well-served by raising the consciousness of the entire university community about the inherent benefits of creating a more diverse institution and educational environment."

President Cohon, chairman of the university's Diversity Advisory Council, will begin Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities at 12:30 p.m. in Rangos Hall with his State of Diversity address. Following his talk, winners of Carnegie Mellon's sixth annual MLK Day Writing Awards will read poetry and prose about their personal experiences with prejudice and discrimination. Carnegie Mellon presenters will be Jonathan de Vries, Sarah Smith, Kami Smith, Kat Mandeville, Frances Ruiz, Dylan Goings, Ashley Birt, Ruben Quintero, Shuang Karen Xie, C. Scudera and Alyana Frankenberry.

At 2:30 p.m., a panel of Carnegie Mellon and local experts will discuss "Black Rights, Gay Rights: Expanding the Boundaries of Civil Rights" during the Community Conversation. Carnegie Mellon students and staff will use artistic expression to reflect on civil rights issues during the Community Collage at 3:45 p.m.

The day's activities will conclude at 5 p.m. with a keynote address by noted author and historian Darlene Clark Hine, the Board of Trustees Professor of African American Studies and Professor of History at Northwestern University. Her address, "Freedom Is Our Business: Black Professionals Before the Modern Civil Rights Movement," will demonstrate how a generation of black professionals built bridges across gender, class and regional divides to create the foundations for the modern civil rights movement.

One of only a few women to serve as president of both the Organization of American Historians and the Southern Historical Association, Hine has published hundreds of articles on African American history, particularly that of black women. She has authored or co-authored more than 20 books, including the textbook "The African-American Odyssey, Volumes I & II" and the popular "A Shining Thread of Hope: The History of Black Women in America." She is co-editor of "The Harvard Guide to African-American History" and her book, "Black Women in White," won three awards, including the Letitia Woods Brown Book Award from the Association of Black Women Historians.

Before joining the Northwestern faculty, Hine was the John A. Hannah Professor of History at Michigan State University. She has also taught at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Purdue University and South Carolina State College. She received her bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University and her doctorate from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. She has been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and the National Humanities Center, and has received honorary degrees from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Purdue University and Buffalo State College. In 2002, she was named a "Michiganian of the Year" by the Detroit News.

For more information on MLK Day at Carnegie Mellon, visit http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/first-year/mlk/2005/.

Susie Cribbs
Bruce Gerson