The Metropolitan Diversity Institute to begin at MHCC

By JILL AHO

The general consensus is the upcoming Metropolitan Diversity Institute (MDI) to be held at Mt. Hood Community College April 7 and 8 will be the best conference for the money.
The roster is filled with professional speakers who have lowered their asking prices to help MHCC’s MDI get off the ground.

Merced Flores, a major contributor to the MDI and coach to MHCC’s Access and Diversity Committee (ADC), said, “This is our first. We want it to be successful so we can have another, and another.”

Pam Polito, who works in Human Resources and is the project manager for the MDI, said, “This is an excellent opportunity to explore diversity in our area.” Because so many presenters have lowered their normal fees, “the quality will be much above the cost of admission,” she said.

Carole Wickham, an MHCC instructor in Allied Health and member of the ADC, said the conference “began with a dream that Larry Dawkins had. He got us all excited and we started working on it.”

Flores said the MDI is expected to bring in about 200 people. “We don’t expect it to be very big because of our inability to reach the communities.” Flores said spring is a popular time to hold conferences and potential participants may have others scheduled.

“With time we can make a great conference,” he said. Because MHCC is in the Portland metro area, Flores expects that those individuals who would not normally be able to get away from their jobs for several days to attend a far-off conference might come to the MDI.

Wickham and Flores have been advertising for the MDI. Wickham hung fliers in Gresham’s downtown area, and was pleased with the response she got from local businesses. “It was heart-warming that the businesses were so receptive. Every business except one took one flyer, some took two.”

Flores said he had attended the “Breakfast of Champions” for the Red Cross, which honors blood donors, and talked about the conference. He said he’s been working to spread the word throughout the state.

Wickham said the conference is meant to teach attendees how to be not just accepting, but also respectful. “We’re trying to get the spirit of inclusion on campus and in our community.”

People have been moving to East County for many reasons, said Flores. “People are moving out of Portland for more affordable housing, and people like it on the east side.”

This new demographic is something Polito mentioned as well. She hopes the residents of the area recognize that diversity is “growing by leaps and bounds.”

Flores said the diversity on campus may be best seen at night. Evening classes attract both young and old, people from many different backgrounds and many ESL students. He said that he is seeing more students of color during the day and has seen diversity among faculty members grow as well.

Flores expects the conference to draw all kinds: educators, city, county and state officials, local business people, people who work in social services and medical professionals. “There are a lot of different community people who are interested,” he said.

Polito said she thinks what sets the MDI apart is that the ADC worked hard to provide “a conference that has depth to it.” She expects attendees to “walk away with the tools to foster positive changes.”

Flores hopes the conference will give people new perspectives. “It will be small enough to have a dialogue with the presenters and others who are there. Hopefully people leave with a renewed interest, something like meta-cognition: thinking about thinking.”