University receives $225,000 for inter-group diversity

The Bildner Family Foundation has awarded a $225,000 grant to the University, as one of eight schools receiving funds to increase intergroup discussion of diversity.

The three-year grant allocates $30,000 for student and faculty diversity programming efforts, and a committee of seven faculty members, staff and students will meet Dec. 12 to review the first round of proposals.

"I think that historically we have not opened lines of discussion, and hopefully Princeton will engage the broader community in dialogue of race, gender, class and all the issues we tend to build with daily," said Heddye Ducree, director of the Carl A. Fields Center.

The Fields Center worked with the Pace Center for Community Service, the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students and the Office for Religious Life to apply for the Bildner grant, which will fund the initiative Dialogue@Princeton.

Many members of ethnic student organizations on campus said more funding would help to expand diversity events.

Ananya Lodaya '04, a member of International Students at Princeton, said the Bildner fund would be a welcome alternative to getting funds from the Trustees' Alcohol Initiative, which limits activities to certain days and times and stipulates that they must be open to the entire student body.

"Funds have always been the main drawback," Lodaya said about efforts to hold inter-cultural activities.

Dean Thomas Dunne's office currently funds ISAP study breaks — open to all students — because the group promotes diversity on campus by representing students from 80 different countries.

National Council of Negro Women president Kristen Williams '04 said she would consider approaching Bildner to fund the upcoming conference, Empowering Black Women for the 21st Century, for which they are recruiting women from business, political and medical professions.

Asian-American Student Association president Ed Tsui '04 said the Projects Board already funds minority student groups very adequately.

"We've been able to accomplish AASA cultural activities through the projects board, and they've been very supportive," Tsui said. "I'm not sure how a new fund will help."

Sustained Dialogue coordinator Sam Todd '04 said the new funding will be used to sponsor off campus activities, visiting speakers and events coordinated with other student groups.

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Sustained Dialogue, which comprises nine groups of 10 to 12 members, builds relationships between students and faculty members of different ethnicities and experiences in order to change the way they interact on campus.

The majority of the funds will enable the University to develop long-range initiatives such as a student-faculty retreat, which may happen this year, said Laurie Hall, assistant director for programs at the Frist Campus Center.

Cyrena Chih '05, a member of AASA, said that money can only go so far and she hopes the University will make concrete changes with the new funds. She has suggested to administrators that the International Center, which she thinks is too small for large gatherings, be moved to a separate building on campus along with a minority center lounge offering frequent cultural lunches.

Fleuretta King, who ran the Office of Diversity Education at DePaul University in Chicago, arrived on campus Monday to prepare to direct Dialogue@Princeton.

"I'm excited because I think Fleuretta is a dynamic person who will bring significant talent to our campus," Ducree said.