Fresno State’s annual Diversity Awareness Week, April 22-27, will celebrate cultural diversity on campus and in the community, beginning with multiple activities including a fashion show, food fair and the annual diversity conference.

The opening ceremony noon-1 p.m. April 22 at the Free Speech Area Platform will feature Aztec dancers, hip-hop dancers, Japanese dancers, songs interpreted in American Sign Language and a community dance with the Deaf community.

The theme of this year’s conference, “GOAL: Increased Cross-Cultural Interaction at Fresno State,” will be explored by keynote speaker, Joshua Fredenburg, a nationally recognized speaker, author and leadership expert who has been featured on BET, the Wayne Brady Show and morning shows including KTLA and the Daily Buzz Nation. The conference will take place 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday, April 26 in the Satellite Student Union.

“Students, faculty, staff and administrators will engage in developing a procedure that facilitates, acknowledges and rewards groups and individuals for cross-cultural interaction,” said Francine Oputa, director of the Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute that is coordinating the week-long observance on campus.

Fredenburg’s expertise in leadership, career, relationship and success strategies has led to his success as a speaker across the country. He has published four books and is the driving force behind the national Circle of Change Leadership Conference, which prepares student leaders in college for executive-level leadership positions after graduation and provides student leaders with opportunities to network with big name company executives.

Fredenburg is currently pursuing his doctorate in organizational leadership at Nova Southeastern College and serves on the Board of Directors for the Lois Swan Leadership Center at California State University, Long Beach.

Pre-conference registration is available at 559.278.6946 or Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute.

Also on April 26 is a film screening of “Valley of the Saints,” the first film set in the endangered communities of Kashmir’s Valley of Saints, at 5:30 p.m. in the Leon S. and Pete P. Peters Educational Center in the Student Recreation Center. The film is presented by Fresno State’s CineCulture program and is co-sponsored by the Center for Creativity and the Arts.

Other Diversity Awareness Week events, all free and open to the public, include:

Tuesday, April 23

  • 2-3 p.m. – International Coffee Hour in the Henry Madden Library, Room 2206
  • 3:30-5 p.m. – Cultural Competency Training in the University Center, Room 123
  • 4-6 p.m. – Interfaith and Cultural Fashion Show in the Satellite Student Union
  • 5-7 p.m. – Women, Entrepreneurship and Diversity panel discussion in the Henry Madden Library, Room 2206

Wednesday April 24

  • 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. – “Anyone and Everyone” LGBT Focused Film; 3-5 p.m. panel discussion in the Henry Madden Library, Room 3212.
  • Noon-1 p.m. – Celebrating Diversity in Faculty and Staff Experiences and Research in the USU Pavilion Conference Room
  • Noon-2 p.m. – Hands on Human Rights: Armenian Genocide, 98th Annual Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide at the Free Speech Platform

Thursday, April 25

  • 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. – Food Fair at the USU Balcony
  • 3 p.m. – “Just Keep Going” presentation by Tiffany Porter, an athlete born with muscular dystrophy in the University Student Union, Room 312-314
  • 11 a.m.-2 p.m. – First Annual Study Abroad Fair at the USU Balcony

Saturday April 27

  • 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. – NCBI Welcoming Diversity workshop in the Vintage Room (pre-registration is required)

Participating programs in this year’s celebration of Diversity Awareness Week include Asian Faculty and Staff Association, Continuing and Global Education, Deaf Studies, the Henry Madden Library, International Affairs, Researchers and Critical Educators, and USU Productions.

For a full schedule of events or more information, visit Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute or call 559.278.6946.

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(Copy prepared by University Communications news student assistant Alejandra Garcia.)

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