‘Eagles of All Cultures’ focuses on cultural education and awareness

Morehead State University will host “Eagles of All Cultures,” a day of events and activities focusing on cultural education and awareness, on Monday, Oct. 7, for MSU faculty, staff and students.  

“Eagles of All Cultures” was initiated by the members of MSU’s Bluegrass Higher Education Consortium Academic Leadership Academy (ALA) with collaboration from the Office of Undergraduate Education and Student Success and MSU’s Diversity and Inclusion Initiative. The fellows are Dr. Flint Harrelson, associate professor of animal science; Dr. Michele Paynter Paise, visiting assistant professor of music; Dr. Daryl Privott, associate professor of adult and higher education and director of the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning; Dr. Sherif Rashad, professor of computer science; and Lexius Yarbrough, retention specialist and academic advisor. As part of the Bluegrass Higher Education Consortium, each team is required to develop a campus project and then present the project at the consortium meeting in October. 

“The ‘Eagles of All Cultures’ awareness day is in support of MSU’s strategic and diversity plans and is an effort to support the awareness of the cultural diversity and inclusion at MSU,” Privott said. “It provides our faculty, staff and student community an opportunity to learn more about different aspects of diverse cultures and the values and importance of cultural diversity for our community.” 

The day’s first event will be “Social Justice in the Music Classroom” presented by Dr. Michele Paynter Paise at 9 a.m. in Room 338 of Baird Music Hall. This will be followed by a Multicultural Library Showcase, which takes place at 10 a.m. in the Multicultural Room on the second floor of the Camden-Carroll Library. The last morning activity is a lecture by Dr. Julia A. Finch, assistant professor of art history at MSU, titled “Sites of Memory: Contested Confederate Monuments and New Artistic Interventions.” The presentation takes place at 11 a.m. in Room 311 of the Adron Doran University Center (ADUC).  

Afternoon activities take place in the Multicultural Room on the second floor of the Camden-Carroll Library with an International Student Experience at noon. Ballroom A in ADUC will host back-to-back events, starting with an MSU Vocal Performance directed by MSU Professor of Music Dr. Roma Prindle and an “Eagles of All Cultures Discussion Panel” at 1 p.m. At 2 p.m., Dr. Scott Davison, professor of philosophy at MSU, will discuss “Diversity Among Abrahamic Faiths” in the ballroom.  

A presentation titled “Implicit Bias,” which takes place at 3:30 p.m. in the Button Drill Room, will feature Dr. Bryant Marks, the founding director and principal trainer at the National Training Institute on Race and Equity, and a performance by the Black Gospel Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Roosevelt Escalante.  

Marks is also faculty in the Department of Psychology at Morehouse College, where he has served as director of the Program for Research on Black Male Achievement. Marks has served as a presidential advisor to former President Barack Obama for the Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans and as a senior advisor to The White House for the Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  

Through his training institute, Marks has provided implicit bias training in several settings, including training over 2,000 police chiefs and several thousand patrol officers in local police departments around the country as part of the nationwide 21st Century Policing program. He has also provided training for all employees in Los Angeles County.  

“Eagles of All Cultures” will wrap up on a visually creative note with a visit to the Golding-Yang Art Gallery inside the Claypool-Young Art Building at 5 p.m.  

For more information on the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning at MSU, contact Dr. Daryl Privott, associate professor of adult and higher education and director of the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, at fctl@moreheadstate.edu, 606-783-2603 or visit www.moreheadstate.edu/fctl.