IU auxiliaries honored for diversity initiatives

It started out as an internal program, but now the entire nation has respect for IU Auxiliary Services and Programs.\nASAP received the Golden Award from the National Association of College Auxiliary Services Tuesday at the annual NACAS conference in Colorado Springs, Col., for the Project RESPECT diversity initiative.\n"The award recognizes exemplary and outstanding service to cultural awareness in the profession of college auxiliary management and the promotion of inclusion in an on-going fashion, through leadership in the areas of cultural diversity and equality," said in a press release.\nProject RESPECT began in 2002 when a group of staff members approached ASAP Vice Chancellor of ASAP Bruce Jacobs, seeking more dialogue among diverse employees.\nFrom this, came a series of six programs for the staff, based around the idea of respect.\n"The core program involved meeting with staff and looking at the issues of how we are all different, how this is part of our strength, and how it makes us who we are," Jacobs said.\nThe idea of basing the initiative around respect came from a committee meeting with ASAP employees, said Bill Shipton, director for student programs and services in Residential Programs and Services, and head of the committee.\n"We met with lots of focus groups from the bookstore, the Indiana Memorial Union, RPS and marketing and asked them, 'If we were to write a statement, what should it say?'" Shipton said. "The word that kept coming up was respect."\nAt the following programs, several questions were unveiled for employees to reflect upon every day, including, "Am I actively seeking to increase my knowledge and understanding about diversity?" and "What will I do today to be more open-minded and inclusive than I was yesterday?"\nAlso passed out were "Respect Cubes," which featured photos of several employees and the eight questions from the diversity value statement. Many keep the cube on their desk, according to the press release.\nOverall, the initiative was well-received, which is the main reason NACAS honored it, Shipton said. \n"The response has been overwhelmingly positive," he said. "A handful of people think we're trying to brainwash them, but that's a small, small fraction. The fact is, we all want respect, and the vast majority of people are willing to give respect."\nProject RESPECT sessions will push on as new employees continue to be hired, Jacobs said.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.