The Diversity Initiative (DI) is a comprehensive, campus-wide endeavor devoted to enhancing and promoting diversity at the University of Maryland via the development and implementation of campus-wide programs related to diversity, broadly conceptualized. The Initiative has an Advisory Committee that is comprised of faculty, staff, and students from across the campus, as well as sub-committees (with the same diverse composition of members), that focus the Initiative's diversity programming efforts on particular populations or issues as is deemed necessary and/or otherwise important to the campus community.

Current sub-committees include: Faculty Relations, Staff Relations, Student Relations,public relations/marketing, research and evaluation, Multicultural Educational Technology, and ad hoc. These bodies meet periodically to decide whether or not to continue existing and/or to create new diversity programming that showcases the benefits of diversity in higher education and beyond.

The DIVERSITY SHOWCASE is the vehicle through which the Diversity Initiative coordinates major campus-wide events. Diversity Showcase events focus on timely topics of interest related to diversity that have campus-wide import and appeal. Further, Showcase topics are typically provocative and challenging in their breadth so as to invite conversation, discussion, dialogue, and debate on the "showcased" issues. Speakers from across campus as well as across the country with expertise in the particular topics being showcased are invited to present. All members of the campus community are actively encouraged to attend.

Past Showcase events have included student essay contests, awards ceremonies, and panel discussions on a variety of themes including interracial dating and hate crime, as well as theater presentations of plays with complex diversity-related themes like "Blues for Mr. Charlie." Current Showcase events include the Border Crossing to Build Community Speaker Series and the Building Community at Maryland Poster Campaign.

For more information and/or to join the DI Advisory Committee or one of its sub-committees, please contact the Associate Director gbouis@umd.edu