Page 4 - Laker Connection Fall 2013

President’sMessage
There are any number of ways in which concepts of diversity and inclusion can be framed. In more than a few occasions,
Dr. Thomas J. “Tim” Hynes, Jr.
I have acknowledged my own debt to the thinking and writing of the late Dr. Roosevelt Thomas. At the time of his passing in the spring of 2013, Dr. Thomas was described as “...a pioneer in moving the entire field of diversity and inclusion beyond just race and gender...He made it more expansive and also caused it to become a mainstream function within the human resources profession.”
In his work Building a House for Diversity, Thomas wrote that a diversity mixture is “...any combination of individuals who are different in some ways and similar in others. It is in this collective mixture that true diversity lives...Diversity is not a function of race or gender or any other us versus them dyad, but a complex and ever changing blend of attributes, behaviors and talents.”
The featured stories in this volume of The Laker Connection wonderfully provide just a few illustrations of ways in which Clayton State draws strength from this perspective— that it is not just “the other,” but the entire community that contributes to institutional and community strengths drawn from our diversity.
I first heard of gumbo as a metaphor for diversity in an interview some years ago with the New Orleans born music artist Aaron Neville. (I have come to learn that this metaphor is widely used in New Orleans, but will continue to give credit to Mr. Neville.) A gumbo is a wonderful combination of a variety of ingredients. It inevitably begins with a roux made from slowly cooked and well stirred oil and flour. But it then can in- clude a wide range of other contributors to taste—be that okra, celery, onions, seafood, chicken, sausage, or other ingredients. Gumbo, well-made, has a distinct flavor, and is a single dish served over rice. At the same time, each of the ingredients makes an indi- vidual and distinct contribution to that wonderful meal. Like a gumbo, the diverse and inclusive institution, with care and attention, can be far more than just the individual in- gredients, even as the separate nature of those ingredients are recognized, celebrated, and enjoyed.
Please enjoy this volume’s sample of the similarity and differences among our campus community that makes up Clayton State University.
Dr. Thomas Hynes President
2 THE LAKER CONNECTION