5 IU community members to be honored

Today, the IU Commission on Multicultural Understanding will bestow awards on five individuals and one program in recognition of their dedicated exploration of cultural diversity on or around campus. \nInitially created to focus on training in racial understanding, the Commission on Multicultural Understanding began to encourage programs and activities that increase awareness of all kinds of oppression in the community. \n“We are a proactive organization rather than a reactive one,” said Bill Shipton, deputy chair of the commission and a former award winner who chaired this year’s recipient selection committee.\nThose being honored were selected from a list of nominees divided into six categories: undergraduate student (senior Nicholas Mitchaner), graduate student (Stacy Konkiel), faculty member (J. Peter Burkholder), staff member (Sharlene Toney), community member (Beverly Calender-Anderson) and outstanding program (First Fridays, sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Support Services). The award recipients are then chosen by a committee chaired by former Commission on Multicultural Understanding award winners.\nThe organization is a derivation of the Committee on Racial Understanding formed by the IU Dean of Students in 1982. In order to reflect its broadening concern for cultural as well as racial issues, the organization changed its name to the Commission on Multicultural Understanding in 1990.\nShipton said the organization’s formation was a response to overt disparity between the treatment of white and black students on campus. At the time, Shipton himself was working to encourage racial understanding among those living in residence halls.\nTaking a more preventative stance, the commission seeks to improve the social climate before conflict arises. \nOne of the issues the commission is currently working to address is the controversy over the mural in Room 100 of Woodburn Hall. The mural, among other scenes depicting Indiana history, includes an image of rallying Ku Klux Klan members beneath a burning cross.\n“A large number of people find this image very offensive,” Shipton said.\nHe said one promising solution to this problem would be to install a video kiosk adjacent to the mural explaining the historical significance of the controversial image.\nAlthough multicultural understanding is not something that can be quantified, one way to measure the success of a program or activity is by its capacity to reach people and inspire them to become active, Shipton said. The work of Teachable Moments a committee of the Commission on Multicultural Understanding, he said, is just one good example of a productive, proactive method of diffusing understanding.\nCo-convened by Toney, a recipient of this year’s Commission on Multicultral Understanding Award as a staff member, the Teachable Moments Committee focuses on current issues facing the IU community. \nThis year, the committee addressed the issue of the “athletic closet” within the GLBT community, a term alluding to the difficulties athletes face in coming out to their teammates and coaches. \nToney organized Jeff Sheng’s “Fearless” photography exhibit last fall. Portraying images of high school and college GLBT athletes, the exhibit confronted the conflicting stereotypes of the athletic and GLBT communities.\nThe most effective way to promote understanding among IU students, faculty and staff is to find “new, innovative, creative ways of learning,” Toney said. “It’s about finding the hook to hold their interest and keep them looking for issues on campus.”\nBarry Magee, a co-convener of the commission’s Retreats and Recognition Committee, who will be a presenter at the ceremony, said working to improve multicultural understanding is like planting seeds.\n“We hope that they will be watered and fertilized and will turn into something good,” Magee said.\nThe award recipients will be honored today in the Grand Hall of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. The event is open to the public with a reception beginning at 4:30 p.m. followed by the award presentations at 5 p.m.