By embracing differences today, a group of professors and students will work toward a better tomorrow.

Faculty, staff and students are gearing up for an afternoon of candid conversations at today’s Diversity in America and Its Impact on Education workshop.

The workshop will investigate the complex definition of diversity and its impact on higher education, said the workshop facilitator Mildred Pearson, a professor in the early childhood, elementary and middle level education department.

“The workshop positions diversity as a central focal point of college students’ educational experiences, and investigates the various concepts of voice and finding voice,” Pearson said.

The workshop will also allow students the chance to share their perspectives on the university’s standing with diversity issues and how to work together toward a greater understanding.

“While it is important to know and understand the importance of diversity, it is also critical that we care enough to do something about it and act as change agents to bring about true change,” Pearson said.

Six facilitators – Pearson, David Butts, Norman Greer, Jinhee Lee, Juanita Cross and Julie Haugh – will discuss different views on diversity at the workshop, including race, ethnicity, gender and identity formation.

Conversations will not be limited to those topics and additional faculty have been invited to address other issues such as sexuality, Pearson said.

Butts, a professor in the communication studies department and one of the facilitators, is looking forward to open discussions with students, staff and faculty about the effects of diversity in education.

“We will be able to have a conversation across that occasional divide between faculty and students,” Butts said.

Haugh, a disability specialist who works with the Office of Disability Services, will speak about how society views “invisible” disorders, such as Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and psychiatric disabilities, when there is no visible evidence of a problem.

“A student in a wheelchair or a student with vision problems is typically viewed as having a ‘legitimate’ disability, but when we can’t see the evidence, how do we respond to that person?” Haugh said. “When we embrace the concept that a person’s ability to process information, sit for extended periods of time or remember things has an impact on their lives, we will gain insight into another area of diversity.”

In addition to conversations, the workshop will also include a hands-on activity, slam poetry performance and strategies for attendees to discuss.

After the poetry performance, discussion will continue as participants reflect on the past and share their ideas for the future, Pearson said.

“We will establish our hopes of creating an inclusive campus, our dreams to better prepare for a diverse and global world, and possibilities for EIU,” she said.

Pearson said students will come away from the workshop with greater abilities to understand and respect all voices and values, and to celebrate differences.

“This is a shared knowledge, from faculty to student, and student to faculty; from staff to student, and student to staff, and finally, from student to student,” Pearson said.

Haugh said she hopes students will be able to see things a little differently after the session.

“The strengths and deficits we all possess make us unique, not incapable or inferior,” she said.

The Office of Faculty Development at Eastern offers diversity workshops every year for students, staff and faculty to raise diversity awareness of diversity on campus and in the world through healthy conversations and by working to create diverse learning environments.

The workshop will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. in the University Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Emily Reid can be reached at 581-7942 or at ejreid2@eiu.edu.