{"id":41253,"date":"2016-02-05T16:32:07","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T22:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/?p=41253"},"modified":"2016-02-05T16:32:07","modified_gmt":"2016-02-05T22:32:07","slug":"ku-business-school-holds-self-accountable-at-another-diversity-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/2016\/02\/05\/ku-business-school-holds-self-accountable-at-another-diversity-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"KU Business School holds self accountable at another diversity forum"},"content":{"rendered":"

The room was full of positivity at the Business School\u2019s second forum on diversity and equity Thursday afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n

About 50 people sat in the Summerfield lecture hall, passing around boxes of Hot Box Cookies.<\/span><\/p>\n

The meeting was a follow-up to the Business School\u2019s first forum on Nov. 30 where students and faculty discussed what aspects of diversity and inclusion the School did well or could improve upon. Dean Neeli Bendapudi said the Business School will host a diversity forum every semester.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll keep talking about it until we all say \u2018Oh, it\u2019s perfect, we don\u2019t need to talk about it anymore,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Talk alone, Dean Bendapudi said, isn\u2019t enough. The Business School has faculty and staff diversity and inclusivity training sessions this month and is hosting events like <\/span>The Power of Sport: A Conversation on Business, Race and Sport<\/span><\/a> on Feb. 18.<\/span><\/p>\n

There was a lot to celebrate.<\/span><\/p>\n

A white, male freshman complimented how one of his 100-level Business School classes included a presentation on current diversity events on campus. He said he may otherwise have not been aware since it doesn\u2019t necessarily affect him.<\/span><\/p>\n

A professor said she immediately applied lessons from a SafeZone training both in- and outside the classroom. She introduces herself with her gender pronouns \u2013 something that makes it easier for people who are transgender or gender non-binary to introduce themselves \u2013 to her classes and talked about it with friends at a girls\u2019 night out.<\/span><\/p>\n

But there were still issues to work on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dean Bendapudi said the School\u2019s retention rate and post-graduation employment is high, but that the School needs to improve its pipeline to recruit more minority students.<\/span><\/p>\n

A white professor said she teaches diversity issues in her classes, but doesn\u2019t like having to speak on behalf of diverse identities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another professor pointed out how most people in the room were white \u2013\u00a0which doesn\u2019t represent how diverse the business world is.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dean Bendapudi was eager to do the work.<\/span><\/p>\n

The love from \u201cDean Neeli\u201d was palpable. She blew kisses at one student and when another broke into happy tears \u2013\u00a0\u201cThe Business School changed my life,\u201d Kwasi Porter-Hill said \u2013 she hugged him, said she loved him and rubbed his back.<\/span><\/p>\n

Camille Douglas \u2013\u00a0the senior from Overland Park who Dean Bendapudi blew kisses at \u2013\u00a0said the good mood at the forum was thanks to how proactive Bendapudi and the Business School is about diversity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe really tries to get in front of issues and I think people see that and people are very responsive to that,\u201d Douglas said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Porter-Hill, a senior from Los Angeles, California, was glad the School was holding itself accountable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that we had this event in itself is amazing,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

The dean gave everyone her personal cell phone number and encouraged them to reach out. At Douglas\u2019s request, she promised to schedule a follow-up forum for the end of the semester.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens in the Business School, I want you to hold me accountable,\u201d Bendapudi said.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The room was full of positivity at the Business School\u2019s second forum on diversity and equity Thursday afternoon. About 50 people sat in the Summerfield lecture hall, passing around boxes of Hot Box Cookies. The meeting was a follow-up to the Business School\u2019s first forum on Nov. 30 where students and faculty discussed what aspects of diversity and inclusion the School did well or could improve upon. Dean Neeli Bendapudi said the Business School will host a diversity forum every […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12077,"featured_media":41254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3226,15],"tags":[4283,4282],"class_list":["post-41253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-culture-articles","category-featured-on-kjhk","tag-business-school","tag-diversity"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/IMG_2354.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12077"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}