The Symposium consists of three sessions. These three sessions, each with a panel of college and university presidents from different types of institutions, have been specially organized to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of NCORE. They are being highlighted at this year’s conference because as experience at so many institutions has taught us, presidential leadership is especially important to the success of diversity initiatives. These sessions have been designed to be of particular benefit to presidents, senior officers, trustees, emerging leaders, and others in higher education, who are interested in hearing these institutional leaders share their experience, knowledge and perspectives.

Tuesday, May 29—9:00–11:30 a.m.
Session I—Corporate and Academic Diversity
Despite court rulings and legislation against affirmative action, the corporate world has continued to support diversity programs; whereas, the academic world generally seems more cautious and hesitant in continuing to promote such programs. Although many organizations, both academic and corporate, have supported diversity programs to achieve equity in ethnic representation, they appear to have many other good reasons for pursuing diversity. This select panel of corporate and academic leaders will compare perspectives on these and other issues, among which are:

• Why have so many corporate leaders and their companies continued to support diversity programs and remain committed to them? Are their reasons different from those of university leaders?
  

• What is the relation between diversity and excellence? Can you have excellence without diversity? Can diversity programs help meet the workforce needs of the nation?

• What leadership strategies do corporate executives employ in promoting diversity and how do they compare with those employed by college and university presidents? What are some of the lessons learned in such efforts?

• What has been the impact of court rulings and legislation against affirmative action? Are there legally-permissible, but still effective approaches for promoting diversity in both the corporate and academic worlds?

Fredia Brooks, Director, Diversity and Inclusion, Microsoft Corporation (Invited)

Diana S. Natalicio, Ph.D., President, University of Texas—El Paso, Texas

Esther Silver-Parker, Vice President, Diversity Relations, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Invited)

Bob H. Suzuki, Ph.D., Past President, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona—Los Angels, California (Coordinator/Moderator)

Andrés Tapia, Global Chief Diversity Officer/Emerging Workforce Solutions Leader, Hewitt—Making the World a Better Place to Work—Lincolnshire, Illinois

Ronald A. Williams, Ph.D., President, Prince George’s Community College—Largo, Maryland

Tuesday, May 29—1:30–3:30 p.m.
Session II—Diversity and Globalization in the 21st Century:
Issues and Challenges
As current immigration patterns and demographic trends indicate, this nation will become increasingly diverse in the decades ahead. Moreover, people of color now constitute over 80 percent of the total world population and globalization is impacting all Americans. As a consequence of these developments, more and more Americans are coming into contact with people of different ethnicities, religions, cultures, and points of view; and Americans themselves are reflecting this growing diversity. Thus, the issues of diversity are likely to become even more important in the future for institutions of higher education. This panel of academic leaders has been asked to identify and discuss some of the issues of diversity likely to face institutions of higher education in the 21st century, including:

• What are the most important issues of diversity likely to be faced by our institutions in the coming decades? For example, issues around religion, sexual orientation, class, ethnicities, language, and ability.

• How do you reconcile intolerance toward diversity in points of view with maintaining academic freedom?
  

• How important is it to incorporate the international dimensions of diversity into higher education and what should these dimensions be?

Tomas Arcieniega, Ph.D., President Emeritus, California State University—Bakersfield, California

Linda Basch, Executive Director, National Council for Research on Women—New York, New York

Yolanda T. Moses, Ph.D., Former President of the City College of New York, New York; President, American Association for Higher Education, and Alumni, San Bernardino Valley College—San Bernardino, California (Coordinator/Moderator)

Roy H. Saigo, Ph.D., Distinguished Senior Academic Fellow, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities; President Emeritus, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota; former Chancellor, Auburn University at Montgomery, Montgomery, Alabama—St. Cloud, Minnesota

John Brooks Slaughter, Ph.D. Former President, Occidental College and the University of Maryland; President and CEO, NACME, Inc.—New York, New York

Tuesday, May 29—3:34-5:30 p.m.
Session III—Informal Dialogue With Presidential Panelists
This will be an informal question-and-answer session with some of the presidents who participated in the panels from the previous two sessions. It will provide the opportunity to pursue issues raised in the previous sessions in greater depth and in a more informal give-and-take setting.

Yolanda T. Moses, Ph.D., Former President of the City College of New York, New York; President, American Association for Higher Education, and Alumni, San Bernardino Valley College—San Bernardino, California (Coordinator/Moderator)

Bob H. Suzuki, Ph.D., Past President, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona—Los Angels, California (Coordinator/Moderator)