OHIO STATE TO HOST STATEWIDE MINORITY AFFAIRS CONFERENCE

	COLUMBUS -- Developing strategies for the recruitment, 
retention and faculty development of minorities in higher 
education will be the focus of the fourth annual Conference of 
Offices of Minority Affairs at The Ohio State University May 5. 
The event will run from 9:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Ohio Union 
Ballrooms, 1739 N. High St.

	Representatives from 49 colleges and universities in Ohio 
and the Big Ten will gather to discuss issues affecting 
minorities in higher education, including affirmative action 
plans and diversity initiatives.

	"The climate of the country suggests that critical thinking 
and action at all platforms of dialogue must continue if we are 
to have effective and rightful approaches to systematic issues 
moving into the 21st century," said Barbara J. Rich, interim vice 
provost for minority affairs.  "Understanding the 
interconnectedness of minority affairs, diversity and affirmative 
action plays its vital role in successes in higher education, in 
other workplaces and in the larger community."  	

	 Robert M. Franklin, president of the Interdenominational 
Theological Center in Atlanta, the largest African-American 
seminary in the country, will give the luncheon keynote address 
on "Liberating Visions-Affirmative Action: A Fortress."  

	Franklin, who earned his master's degree from Harvard 
Divinity School and his doctoral degree from the University of 
Chicago, is the author of several publications.  His most recent 
is Another Day's Journey: Black Churches Confronting the American 
Crisis. 

	The conference also will feature remarks from Richard 
Sisson, interim president of Ohio State, and Frank 
W. Hale, professor and vice provost emeritus for minority 
affairs. 

	Several work sessions will be held throughout the day 
concerning student and faculty retention issues, individual 
states' responses to Proposition 209, insuring the success of 
diversity initiatives, and the role and responsibility of 
institutions to affirmative action.

	The registration fee is $15 for students and $75 for all 
others.  The deadline is April 24.

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Contact: Shaletha Mitchell, minority affairs special programs, 
(614) 292-1417.
Written by Tracy Turner, University Communications, (614) 688-
3682.