Smith Students Launch Diversity Initiative

This semester, undergraduate students at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business launched the Diversity Empowerment Council (DEC).  With a vision to help represent and expand diversity within Smith, the DEC will focus on strengthening unity, student integration and academic excellence. 

The idea for the initiative sparked during a conversation on a bus ride back from Kings Dominion (an amusement park near Richmond, Va.) between Victor Mullins, associate dean for undergraduate programs at Smith, and Olumide Akinwande, a senior finance and management student and founder of DEC. 

“While some might have perceived our introduction to the Smith community as a challenge, DEC saw it as an opportunity to use their enthusiasm to engage peers and hit the ground running with an attempt to unite students across Smith,” said Akinwande. 

To launch the initiative, 15 student council members were appointed, a mission and vision were formulated, a Facebook page was created, and three introductory events were planned in a “What is Diversity?” campaign directed at student engagement and faculty involvement. 

The DEC mission is “to lead efforts in empowering diversity to current and prospective Smith students, by unifying the presence of diversity, serving as a liaison to the administration for students, and providing sustainable services to add value to the community.” 

At the first event of the “What is Diversity?” campaign, Smith Terps were encouraged to write down thoughts, pictures and statements on dry erase boards that encapsulated what diversity means to them. Pictures were taken with the person and the board and compiled into a Fractograf app, a creation led in part by Smith alumnus, Anthony Tucker ’12. See Fractograf. 

“The tabling experience was a pinnacle of the campaign, and proved to be an extremely effective way of pushing DEC’s message,” said Erica Williams, a senior supply chain management and economics major. 

The second leg of campaign engaged Smith faculty and staff in a “What is Diversity? Door Decorating Competition.” Not only were offices and individual professors within Smith encouraged to participate in the door decorating contest, but it soon became clear that tapping into the meaning of diversity was not something that was taken lightly by Smith’s employee base. Faculty, staff and departments created thoughtful and elaborate displays showcasing the many ways diversity is represented in the Smith School of Business. See Facebook for photos. 

The three-week campaign ended with the inaugural “Taste and See” event, hosted by DEC and the Office of Undergraduate Programs on Nov. 12, 2014 in Van Munching Hall. Excitement buzzed through the crowd as the eight partner organizations came together to fellowship over food representing a cultural melting pot and to formally introduce DEC to the University of Maryland and Smith community. The event was a springboard into the next phase of DEC, during which the council aims to implement a prospective student mentoring night and to begin planning a Diversity Week, scheduled to take place during the spring semester. 

“There is nowhere to go but up from the grassroots movement that seeks to embrace and celebrate the many shapes, sizes, colors and cultures within the Smith School that we have all come to know and love,” said Akinwande. 

For more information about diversity and inclusion at Smith, visit: www.rhsmith.umd.edu/about-us/diversity.