








t served as the cornerstone of the University c villes first annual Celebration of Diversity.
BACKGROUND6
The University of Louisville is considered th municipal college in the United States; its orig back to 1778. Up until 1970, U of L was a privs funded institution. Because of budget constrai niversity of Louisville merged formally intot system in 1970 and was assigned an  urban n t this time the university s enrollment total t an 10,000 students and had fewer than 200
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American students. The University of Louisville has a statewide admission mandate that provides for the admission of any student who graduated from an accredited high school in Kentucky. The tuition rate was also lowered to make college more accessible to minorities.
Within ten years of its merger with the state university system, the University of Louisville s enrollment had increased from 10,000 to 20,000 students. Meanwhile, African-American student enrollment had skyrocketed from 200 students in 1970 to 2,000 students by 1980. This increase in African-American students was not matched by an increase in minority faculty. The percentage of African-American faculty remained unchanged from 1978 to 1980.
In 1989, a radical incident occurred that galvanized the university campus into combatting racism.
In 1980, the university experienced a change in leadership. Dr. Donald Swain from the University o California system was hired as president, and broug a progressive perspective and vision. He embar e upon a strategic planning course to help meet t e Kentucky Council of Higher Education s mandate to carry out an  urban mission.  President Swain charged every academic and administrative unit with the re sponsibility to develop individual unit-level plans o address urban issues. A Ph.D. program in urban and public affairs was initiated which is now ran e among the nation s top ten programs.
In 1989, a radical incident occurred that galvanized the university campus into combatting racism, young female African-American student came forwar and alleged she was called a  nigger by a w i e fraternity member. The university community was outraged. African-American students presente a is of demands to the president.7 The Universi y o Louisville was committed to a proactive dealing with racial friction between whites and ac . Dr. Swain appointed a committee to take the ea ro in planning a  Celebration of Diversity   to hea racial animosity and division on campus.
LEADERSHIP
The Celebration was planned and implemented by a combined student, faculty and administrative com tee in accordance with the university P^esl e charge. The effort was coordinated under the lea -ship of the vice president for student a air   chaired the committee, and the director o mino
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services, who served as vice chair. The initial commi tee of nine members was expanded to 17 because of th tremendous amount of work involved in planninj coordinating and implementing the complex details < a program of this breadth and consequence.
The hand-picked committee consisted of membei with a demonstrated record of concern for minorit needs and ability to organize events. Specific tasl included contacting speakers, negotiating contract organizing logistics, scheduling, informing the medi conducting outreach, and writing and publishing pr gram brochures. Task force members were encourage to  think big.  The committee chair required stror consensus-building skills. Committee members needf commitment to openness, inclusivity and genuii progress.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
For ten days in the early fall of 1990, the Universi of Louisville campus went into a whirlwind of activi focusing on diversity issues. The Celebration of Div< sity program fused over 35 separate events into coordinated exploration of important racial issues a: concerns. The purpose of the event was to promt human dignity, tolerance and appreciation of humankii
Events included more than 20 lectures and wo: shops, forums, films, discussions, entertainment ever and social programs designed to meet the univers president s goal to  increase awareness and apprec tion of the different races and ethnic groups rep sented on the university campus.  The speak, included some of the nation s leading spokesperso including Derrick Bell, Jr., Dr. Harry Edwards, Jai Escalante, Dr. Jacqueline Fleming, Dr. Edward Nichols, Michael Woo, and Giancarlo Esposito.8
For ten days... the university... campus went into a whirlwind of activity focusing on diversity issues.
Topics discussed by speakers ranged from entert; ment, gender, hiring practices, and professional at tics to politics and education. These issues generi much discussion among the participants both dui and after the lectures.
In addition to a major lecture series, worksl offered an opportunity for discussion of issues rela to race and cultural diversity. Discussion participi ranged from College Republicans to black Musi The films presented were portrayals of minority which were designed to sensitize individuals on n and cultural issues. Among the movies shown wer
9. UNDERSTANDING CULTURAL PLURALISM
the Right Thing, Leadbelly, My Left Foot, El Norte, and Stand and Deliver. Social events included a football half-time show that recognized the theme of diversity, an ethnic heritage festival, performance of the Black Diamond Gospel Choir, an Interfaith Celebration, and Jamaican Reggae dances.
SYMBOL AND COVENANT
In order to establish and maintain a unified focus, a symbol defining diversity was needed. The symbol used at the University of Louisville was the Covenant of Justice, Equity and Harmony, which originated with the Council of Churches in Boston, Massachusetts in the late 1970s at a time of enormous racial tension and strife. The graphic incorporates the olive branch, representing peace and harmony; a red background, representing the blood relationship that exists between and among all people; a green branch, symbolizing hope and the common dignity shared among all human beings; and colored leaves, corresponding to the major races of people.
In order to establish and maintain a unified focus, a symbol defining diversity was needed.
The university s student government association and student senate purchased thousands of T-shirts bearing the inscription  Celebrate Diversity  and the multicultural logo described above. Huge banners with the symbol were placed on the academic building and in front of the new student activities center. The covenant symbol was also printed on book markers which were distributed throughout the University of Louisville campus. In addition, thousands of covenant buttons were given out and people proudly wore them around campus, and are still doing so many months after the actual Celebration. The goal was to establish a diversity symbol, adopt it, maintain momentinn, and proudly display the symbol as a statement of unity and an ethic of care and concern.
When the University of Louisville football team played in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl, the diversity symbol was proudly worn by the coach, the players, the band the cheerleaders, and thousands of fans at Sun Devil Stadium m Tempe, Arizona. The statement of commit ment to diversity and its celebration, in conjunction with honoring the egacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was seen by millions of people watching fnnthoii New Year s Day, 1991. As the theme sXou^ claimed,  The Dream Lives On,  the symbol ailing the participants to identify who we were and whawt
were about. That symbol carries a message of bi friendship and affiliation.
IMPACT OF DIVERSITY PROGRAM
Does a celebration of diversity make a diffi Who goes to these programs and why? How do react to programs such as the University of Lou Celebration of Diversity? How are people im These are important questions that deserve ai
Nine major lectures were selected and phon bers were gathered from participants who atten program. A questionnaire, which included a mi: open-ended and forced-choice items, was admir to 220 randomly selected Celebration of Divers ticipants. The response rate was a respectable cent, which is considered excellent for survey re
Counting attendance at each event, a total c people participated. Who attended the events association with this program? Roughly 63 pei the people in attendance were white. Thirty-t cent were African-Americans. Sixty percen women. Breaking down participants by status, cent were students, 15 percent were faculty, 30 were staff, and ten percent came from the surrc community. People who attended these even! liberal: only one out of eight voted for George 1 1988. Approximately 50 percent of the parti were involved in 1960s-era protest movemen civil rights, antiwar, etc.), women s issues, and d and tenants -rights issues. One out of every tended religious services regularly.
When asked whether they had experienced ra the past year at the University of Louisville, 31 of the blacks and 13 percent of whites felt that t] experienced some sort of racism or bigotry. Ex of racism on campus were typically graffiti rooms, a professor using the word  Negro  classroom, or an African-American basketball being described as a  natural-born athlete  or thoroughbred.  Perceptions of racism cover t continuum of different actions and thoughts. ( of every two participants had experienced ra1 the community during the past year. Our su participants found very little difference betwe blacks and whites felt about integration.  How feel about living in the same neighborhood person of another race?  One hundred percent problem at all.  Living next door to someone of < race? Again, no difference between blacks and Working with someone of another race?  One 1 percent said no problem.  Sharing a friendsh someone of another race.  One hundred perce fine. In other words, no fundamental differenc identified.  Inviting a person of another race home? Ninety-nine percent reported no P
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Some disagreement arose with the question of dating or marrying someone of another race; 76 percent of whites and 75 percent of blacks approved inter-racial dating and/or marrying.
One out of every two participants had experienced racism in the community during the past year.
The Celebration of Diversity was widely perceived as a timely, educational and relevant program. Participants felt it was a positive step on the part of the university administration toward creating greater understanding and acceptance of the diverse populations comprised by the university community. Our survey revealed the following:
 	 Helps increase awareness of diversity   95 percent agreed
 	 Helps increase understanding of people of other cultures -67 percent agreed
 	 Is educational  96 percent agreed
 	 Speakers were prepared, knowledgeable and enthusiastic  95 percent agreed
 	 Relevant to society  96 percent agreed
 	 Relevant to the respondent -92 percent agreed
 	 Is timely  96 percent agreed
 	 Will improve racial harmony  61 percent agree    Promoted positive change in the respondent -6 p
