LEWIS WALKER INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF RACE AND ETHNIC RELATIONS WHERE WE’VE BEEN AND WHERE WE ARE GOING Timothy Ready, Director

A Very Abbreviated History 1989 * 2006  Founded as the Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnic Relations  Through most of its history, the Institute was focused on campus diversity issues  In 2006, it was renamed in honor of Lewis Walker, emeritus professor of sociology

Abbreviated History, continued  Dr. Walker came out of retirement to serve as interim director in  Tim Ready hired as director

A Bit about Me  Anthropologist, who has worked in and out of academia  Major focus on US Latinos, health and education issues  Designed and directed “Project 3000 by 2000,” the national diversity campaign of the Association of American Medical Colleges during the 1990s.  Senior Program Officer at National Research Council  Research Director, Institute for Latino Studies, University of Notre Dame  Long-standing ties to Michigan and Kalamazoo

Walker Institute Mission Engage in teaching, research and service to increase:  understanding of race and ethnic relations  appreciation of the diverse peoples and cultures of the United States and other nations and  to create more equitable and inclusive communities

Faculty and Staff  Two full-time staff –  The director and Administrative Assistant/Office Manager (Tanya Bellamy)  Two part-time faculty (one course buy-out by their home departments  Don Cooney (Social Work)  Doug Davidson (Sociology)  Two grad assistants

Additional Resources  AARP Senior Intern Program  MA – Sociology  Partnership with Kalamazoo Poverty Reduction Initiative (PRI)  Jeff Brown Director  Three Americorps/VISTA volunteers  Collaborations with interested faculty and students across campus  Endowment –support for programming

Recent Projects Human Race Machine (3/08)  800 participants engaged in innovative learning experience about race  We received national media coverage Research &Creative Activities Awards (4/08) Research on access to the Kalamazoo Promise for low income and minority students (Spring, 08)

Recent Projects (continued) Kalamazoo Youth Media Initiative (Sm 08)  Collaboration with School of Communication and Community partners  15 teenagers and 6 college students  Produced three video documentaries about education and the Kalamazoo Promise  Two of the three videos tied for first place in 2009 Michigan Association of Broadcasters Student Media Competition

Recent Projects (continued) Peoples Conference (September, 08)  Two-day conference  200 participants at Fetzer Center  Presentations and discussions about racial and ethnic groups in Michigan, with emphasis on Southwest Michigan

Current Projects and Initiatives Coordination of Post-Poverty Summit Implementation Strategy for Region VI (nine Southwest Michigan counties) Collaborating with Poverty Reduction Initiative (PRI) Together, Walker Institute and PRI have received $88,000 in commitments to support this work from state and federal sources

Current Projects: Post-Poverty Summit Work (continued)  Region VI (Southwest Michigan) will receive an additional $20,000 in funding from the state government to provide technical support to the other seven regions to: Involve colleges and universities in poverty reduction work Implement the One Community Model

Current Projects: Post-Poverty Summit Work (continued)  One Southwest Michigan, One Community (One Community model)  Community indicators of well-being for vulnerable children and families – with disaggregated data by race/ethnicity  Research on best practices  Raise visibility of the needs of vulnerable children and families and suggest effective, research-based strategies to address them

Current Projects (continued): Kellogg Foundation Grant  One year grant for $98,600  Support for implementation of One Community model in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek  Capacity building for Walker Institute  Guest Speakers/Consultants  Site visits

Current Projects Kellogg Grant (continued)  Support for Community Based Service Learning  Status: Funded, March 1, 2009

Current Projects: Campus Compact Service for Access Grant  Walker Institute collaboration with the Division of Multicultural Affairs - $30,000 for one year  Walker Institute to offer its first course – service learning  WMU students engage in service learning to support:  high school students involved with DMA Gear-Up Program  Limited English Proficient students  Foster children  Engineering outreach

Projects in Development Undergraduate Minor: Race and Ethnic Relations Premise: Knowledge and discipline-specific expertise in inter-ethnic relations is an essential offering for this or any university that seeks to prepare students to be productively engaged in the global economy and in our nation’s increasingly multi-ethnic communities.

Projects in Development (continued) Minor in Race and Ethnic Relations (cont.)  18 credit minor based primarily on existing courses in College of Arts and Sciences  Two required courses are proposed: Immigration and Diversity in the United States Capstone research project or practicum  Proposal will be presented to the College of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee in May for anticipated implementation in the fall of 2010

Projects in Development Center for Community Service, Learning and Research  Addresses three clauses of WMU Mission Statement:  Community service  Community partnerships promoting civic engagement developing foundations for achievement in pluralistic society  Providing authentic learning experiences for WMU students in diverse settings  In addition, the center will raise the visibility of WMU and generate goodwill in surrounding communities and among public and private sector funders

Center for Community Service, Learning and Research (continued)  We are in discussions with the Institute for Service Learning at Kalamazoo College and KVCC to explore an inter-university service learning collaborative  We are working to develop a WMU Community Service Center in the Edison neighborhood Projects in Development (continued)