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I'm Dale Caldwell, I'm the Executive Director of the Rothman Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Silberman College of Business. And I also have the honor of being the chair of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Council. for the president of FDU. The wonderful things about FDU is it's one of the most diverse universities in the northeast. What I love about it is that FDU takes a very personalized focus, we love diversity, we love people with different backgrounds. And it also does a great job of really helping people interact with people they otherwise wouldn't interact with. And so that aspect of this university, I think, makes it very, very special and makes it a special place for me. After the murder of George Floyd, after much of the unrest throughout the country, the university had a commitment to diversity, but they really wanted to take it to the next level. And my dad, who knew and marched with Dr. King. One of my favorite pictures of the picture, my dad and Dr. King at a press conference in Boston, where they marched to integrate the Boston Public Schools. And so the honor to lead this council and carry on my dad's work. We have people on the council, a number of students, people from every aspect of it, professors, we have folks from staff, human resources, and we've all come together with this common mission of really making FDU, one of the most diverse, most inclusive, and most accessible places in the Northeast, the one of the realities about diversity is that we're all products of our influence. When we're born, we're an empty glass, but influence is poured in. And that allows us to really see the world in different ways. And once you understand that, it becomes easier to interact with people who are very different. And so one of the things we're doing with the training is to really help people appreciate the influences of all the people who are involved on the FDU campus. And so this program, I think, will be one of the most effective in any university in the US. One of the things that's most important is that students have a voice. This is really for people with all backgrounds. You know, it's not just for people who are international or people of color, but it's really for everybody, because we all are diverse. We all have diverse perspectives, we all have challenges. And so one of the things that this does well beyond diversity is really help this quality of life for students to be the best possible. What with diversity equity inclusion, and now we have belonging and accessibility is really one of the most important educational tools that you can get at a college. Why is that important? Well, what's happening is that the business world is becoming more and more diverse. It's becoming more and more international, it's including people of all ages and backgrounds, we have about five different generations that are in the workplace. And so the people that are going to be successful, the people that are going to get the promotions earlier, are going to rise to the top of an organization or those that know how to work with people who were very different. Know how to lead people who were very different know how to inspire people were very different. One of the things that you learned at ftu, because of our diversity efforts, is how to interact with very different people. And not only interact with them, but enjoy it. But really appreciate and savor the differences that that that are out there. And one of the things that we're doing is really helping you get out of your comfort zone, and really appreciate those that think differently that come from different places. And that's the real benefit of an fpu education. If what we're talking about today is of interest to you. I encourage you to visit one of our campuses and and experience FDU for yourself. When you come here, it's not enough just to walk around and see our beautiful campuses. It's important for you to stop some students here, stop some faculty and ask them a question about FDU. One of the things that we pride ourselves on is the welcoming nature of everyone here at FDU. We believe that diversity that belonging that accessibility are critical to the best experiences students can have at college. I encourage you to email me at Dcaldwell@fdu.edu. If you want some more information, I'm happy to respond to you or direct you to someone who can give you more information about FDU.
