More Events Scheduled for Equity Day

Oceanside CA— Civil rights leader Dr. Cornel West, who has been called America’s most exciting black scholar, will be the featured speaker at MiraCosta College on March 10 as part of its Equity Week celebration.
“This is an awesome opportunity,” said JP Schumacher, director of student equity at the MiraCosta College Oceanside Campus. “Bringing Dr. West to MiraCosta College speaks to how serious the campus is about its equity efforts and initiatives.”
Dr. West will speak on the eve of Unity Day, which is the culmination of Equity X, a celebration of equity initiatives occurring at community colleges in San Diego and Imperial counties, also known as Region 10 – or Region X when using Roman numerals.
MiraCosta College is hosting a Town Hall Conversation with Dr. West on March 10, 4–4:45 p.m. in the MiraCosta College Concert Hall. The event is free but registration is required.
The son of a Baptist minister, Dr. West became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University when he graduated from the Ivy League school in 1980. He is known as a prominent and provocative democratic intellectual who now serves as a professor of philosophy and Christian practice at Union Theological Seminary and professor emeritus at Princeton University. He has taught at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Paris.
West’s focus is on racial inequalities and the role of race, gender and class in American society. He is a frequent media commentator on political and social issues, and he appears on broadcasts ranging from Fox News to MSNBC. He has published or co-written some two dozen books, including Race Matters, Democracy Matters and Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud.
Dr. West addressed more than 800 students, faculty and staff at MiraCosta College approximately 22 years ago, and his visit is credited with helping to launch the college’s early diversity efforts. Dr. West was invited to this year’s Unity Day celebration after a large number MiraCosta College students were among the 650 people to hear him speak at Lincoln High School in San Diego last December 4.
Unity Day at MiraCosta College continues March 11 with breakout sessions and workshops that culminate with an address by Heather J. Foster, entitled, Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Achieving Gender Equity Together. Foster serves as the senior director of partnerships for the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance. She previously served at the White House as adviser for public engagement and President Obama’s primary strategist and liaison with African-American leaders and civil rights advocacy groups.
March 11 workshops include Equity 101: What the Heck Is Equity? from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.; Denial Demolition: Addressing Skeptics, Cynics, and the Apathetic, from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.; Advocacy 101: How to Make a Difference from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m.; Damage Control: 5 Ways to Stop Hurting People from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m.; and Moving Forward Together: Achieving Equity & Cultural Competence, from 2:45 to 3 p.m.
For more information, contact the MiraCosta Student Equity Department via email at studentequity@miracosta.edu or by calling 760.757.2121, x6900. To make reservations, go to miracosta.edu/unity.