Greetings Fellow Tar Heels!
Thank you for visiting the Alumni Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity (ACRED) newsletter and thank you for your support for our great University. As my predecessor Reyna Walters-Morgan ’99 so clearly articulated before me, it is our hope that you will take the information you learn here and share it with alumni in your communities.
For All Kind: the Campaign for Carolina is an ambitious undertaking, but it is made attainable by a collective effort. ACRED’s role in that effort is helping diverse alumni and friends find their passions and place at Carolina. We are grateful for you and for your continued commitment to the University.
Since 1999 ACRED has engaged diverse alumni in the life and future development of the University as well as increased its presence in the University community. We take pride in helping Carolina alumni find their passions and in making opportunities available for others. For example, ACRED members completed, and topped, the $250,000 Hayden B. “Benny” Renwick initiative to continue the Minority Advising Program and Academic Achievement Awards begun by the beloved Dean Renwick.
ACRED members help educate alumni in different parts of the country about the diversity work taking place at Carolina through salons and larger gatherings. Topics have ranged from Carolina’s impact in the Galapagos to a play telling the stories of Carolina’s first black students. One event created Southern Mix, which captures the oral histories of Asians and Asian American residents in the Triangle of North Carolina and of the larger region of the South.
Sometimes we impact the campus community in small ways. When Tar Heel Preview Day needed $10,000, ACRED came up with the money to host 250 males from sixth to eighth grades from ethnic and culturally diverse backgrounds in a one-day Carolina experience about the college preparation process. Also, ACRED has conducted a lunchtime Webinar on gift planning to show alumni how to incorporate Carolina into their legacy plans. And we are always coming up with ways to support the work of the University.
In this edition of the ACRED newsletter we will profile some of the people and programs on campus that build on our efforts to enhance the recruitment, retention and success of students of color:
- Maria Erb and Kathy Wood have spearheaded the growth of The Graduate School’s Diversity and Student Success Program to attract and retain diverse graduate students.
- Project Uplift celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2019; we take a look at what is going on to celebrate this important milestone.
- Proud double Tar Heel Thomas Wong shared why it is so important to him to give both his time and talent to Carolina.
- Nina Chanel Abney used her time as the Duke/UNC Nannerl Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor to create a thought-provoking mural that covered the Morrison Residence Hall basketball court.
- Ben Frey, sociolinguistic scholar and American studies assistant professor, is helping revitalize the Cherokee language through Cherokee Coffee Hours.
- Carolina junior Emmanuel Lee used his time as an intern for Southern Mix, a collaboration between the Southern Oral History program, the Carolina Asia Center and ACRED, to learn more about his own family history and the Asian-American experience.
We depend on you to help ACRED fulfill its mission, so thank you for sharing a few of these great stories happening here at Carolina!
Sincerely,
Lucrecia R. Moore ’92
Chair