by Amanda S. Parsley
In a surprising move, last Wednesday it was revealed that Capital’s administration will be moving the Multicultural Affairs Office (MAO) Director, Dr. Shakeer Abdullah, to Capital’s Law School campus, thus leaving a vacancy once again at the main campus.
This shocking news left both students and faculty confused and unsure of the future of the MAO. In a bold move of healthy dissent, student leaders from five MAO organizations petitioned Capital’s leadership to make sure of the future of the MAO.
Petitions were passed around asking for student signatures to show to the administration that there is a critical mass of students who have been served and impacted by the work MAO does. There was a letter sent and a meeting set with these leaders and Provost Ashbrook.
The letter petitioning our President and Provost articulating the needs of the students for a MAO director on our main campus was quite impressive. The central themes were student need, student retention, and University reputation.
For one, the MAO sponsors nine different student organizations on campus). There are many students that find these groups part of their families. Through these groups, many students have been able to find a voice and become leaders.
The letter said, “Under the leadership of the Multicultural Affairs Office director, Capital students have developed talents that add to the skill sets that complement the curriculum, making them more attractive products of the institution upon graduation.”
Apparently, the petitions and letters of these brave students have paid off. In a closed door meeting with Provost Ashbrook this past Friday, it was found out the particulars of what this transition is actually going to look like.
Dr. Abdullah is actually going to be in a higher position in administration than the Director of the MAO office. In this new position, he is going to be overseeing a complete re-examination of diversity at Capital.
Research has shown that in order to truly have diversity and cultural competence taught, it has to be infused into every part of the curriculum and not just be one special class to take every once in a while. This is part of Capital’s vision and Dr. Abdullah is uniquely qualified to accomplish this due to his previous work and scholarship.
In the next few weeks, Capital will be hiring a new MAO director to work under the direction of Dr. Abdullah. There is a concern that the administration needs to follow through with its promise of hiring someone new.
To make sure this happens, Provost Ashbrook has expressed that meeting with these student leaders of MAO organizations needs to be an institutional, reoccurring event in order to better meet the needs of the students.
Due to the healthy dissent of these students, a conversation happened and now we know that Capital plans to make good on its promise of diversity.
As President Bowman said, “Surely our future must embrace the multiple identities of our students, whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, agnostic, or atheist. Whether they are gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual, transgender, or questioning.
And regardless of age, gender, marital status, race, or disabilities. Our future must expand the reach of our little patch of ground and leave no member of our community outside a broadly drawn circle of inclusion.”
aparsley@capital.edu
