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November 1& 2, 2003
Connections are powerful.
Our daily connections with each other are the foundation
for change. And building connections with people from
different cultures, often many different cultures, is
key in building diverse communities that are powerful
enough to achieve significant goals.
Whatever our life goals are, there is a good chance we
will need to work with people from several different racial,
language, ethnic, sexual identity, or economic groups.
And in order to work with people from different groups
effectively, we need to build sturdy and caring relationships
based on trust, understanding, and shared goals.
Why? Because trusting relationships hold us together as
we work on a common problem. As we work on challenging
problems, we will have to hang in there together when
things get hard. We will have to support each other to
stay with an effort, even when it feels discouraging.
We will have to resist the efforts of those who use divide-and-conquer
techniques--pitting one group against another.
Regardless of our background, we need to establish relationships
with others whose group we know little about. Each one
of us can build relationships and friendships around ourselves
that provide us with the necessary strength to achieve
community goals. If each of us builds a network of diverse
and strong relationships, we can come together and solve
problems that we have in common.
The Multicultural Center and Center for Student Leadership
Development want to give students the opportunity to build
these relationships. Students are invited to participate
in a highly structured, interactive, cultural competence
retreat. Participants will engage in training and planning
to promote identity awareness and multicultural skills
development among university groups.
The goals of Unity Weekend
are:
· To increase understanding among students of diverse
backgrounds.
· To forge working relationships among these students.
· To increase communication skills and enhance
unity.
· To train participants to bring these skills and
understanding back to their communities.
Schedule and Expectations
This year’s retreat is at the URI W. Alton Jones
Campus Environmental Education Center where nature abounds.
Students attending the retreat will leave the campus at
10:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 1 and return by 3:00
p.m. on Sunday, November 2, 2002.
Participants are expected
to remain for the entirety of the programs. Meals, housing
and transportation will be provided at no cost to the
student.
Those applying will be
contacted with further information regarding updates and
suggested overnight material.
Completed forms should be returned to Mailee Kue at the
Multicultural Center’s office, located in Room 104,
or submitted electronically with the form below
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