“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”

This message from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has stayed with me throughout the years. While there have been many people who have influenced me in my life—and my career—I have been very lucky to have one mentor in particular who helped me along the way, inspiring me to live my life according to Dr. King’s motto.

This Latina mentor made a very strong impression on me early in my career when I was struggling to make some important career decisions. While working on a big case, I was introduced to Vilma Martinez, a legal consultant and a remarkable woman.

Growing up as a Mexican American in Texas during the 1940s, Vilma Martinez experienced the effects of racial prejudice firsthand. She was discouraged from trying to obtain a college education because of her ethnicity. However, she persevered and earned a BA from the University of Texas at Austin, and an LLB from Columbia Law School. Vilma served for nearly a decade as head of one of the most prominent advocacy organizations in our country—the Legal Defense and Educational Fund of the NAACP. Later, Vilma became General Counsel and President of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). Since 2009 she has served as the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, as well as a partner in a private law firm.

Back then, Vilma Martinez saw my potential and encouraged me to pursue my career aspirations without forgetting my humble beginnings. With her guidance I learned to play to my strengths as a Latina, creating a strong network and using it to connect with others and gain personal and professional success. She taught me to embrace change and take risks, and she showed me that I was already a respected leader at that time. But the most valuable lesson I learned from Vilma was that no matter what path I choose in life I have a responsibility to help others—just as she helped me.

Linda Jimenez is a native of San Antonio, Texas, and attended the University of Texas at Austin where she received her BA with honors. She is also a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and has spent 20 years specializing in labor and employment law.

At the time, I was a young Latina mother with three small children and a thriving career as an employment law attorney for a large grocery retailer, but I was finding it difficult to balance these two competing roles. Vilma’s message to me was to seek out ways to make a difference in the lives of others—and to empower them to create their own destiny. I eventually chose a path outside the corporate world and for many years I balanced a part-time virtual job with my company while raising my three children.

Vilma’s advice—and Dr. King’s words—continue to resonate with me today, and even now I use them to guide my decisions. No matter what I do for a living, or how I do it, I know that at the core of my being it is my duty to help others. My own true purpose is to serve the needs of someone else.

I am grateful for Vilma and for all the special people who have shaped my life and helped me achieve success. Whenever my thinking gets chaotic or my motives seem to be a little off, I reflect on Vilma and I ask myself: “What are you doing for others?” Then I put aside my fears and mental chatter and remember my purpose. The more I give, it seems, the more I get.

I encourage you to pause to reflect on those who have influenced you and to find opportunities to serve others in whatever way moves you—whether it’s to be a mentor or coach, to volunteer for a worthy cause, or to give back to others who need help in their life’s journey. This year, think about Dr. King’s question as it applies to your life, and ask yourself, “What are you doing for others?”

Linda Jimenez is a native of San Antonio, Texas, and attended the University of Texas at Austin where she received her BA with honors. She is also a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and has spent 20 years specializing in labor and employment law.

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Companies like Amazon, Southern Company, ManTech International, CSX Corporation, USAA, and Northrop Grumman have made consistent efforts to hire veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and recent retirees from the armed forces.
These companies were all featured on GI Jobs’ annual Top 100 Military Friendly Employers.

Northrop Grumman ranks in the top eleven for best workplaces for military retirees and veterans. The aeronautics and defense contracting corporation has created Operation IMPACT (Injured Military Pursuing Career Transition), a program that assists wounded veterans in finding jobs at Northrop Grumman and other workplaces.

The program was installed in 2004. Program manager Michael Sullivan is proud of the Operation IMPACT’s success.

“The program encourages hiring managers within Northrop Grumman in helping to identify career opportunities for those service members who return home from their service severely injured,”

As part of Operation IMPACT, Northrop Grumman has created the Network of Champions. A partnership with almost 70 companies, the Network of Champions works at finding suitable positions at major corporations like Best Buy, GE, and The Sierra Group.

“Northrop Grumman has led the way in assisting wounded warriors with career transitions. Not only Northrop Grumman, but just careers. It is essentially a consortium that provides career assistance for severely wounded veterans,” added Sullivan.
CSX, a transportation company that does significant contracting with the military, is approximately one-quarter ex-armed forces.

“We have always actively recruited military because they are proven success stories for us,” said Susan Hamilton, Chief Diversity Officer at CSX.

CSX was also the first business to partner with the Wounded Warrior Project.

“Our company has Wounded Warrior interns, known as “externs,” serving in various departments as they engage in a program of getting back into civilian life and recovering from their injuries,” said Hamilton. “We have also hired some Wounded Warriors permanently.”

Not surprisingly, the defense industry is the one of the top hiring sectors for military retirees and veterans. The transition makes sense for ex-GIs, who often work with contractors while in the military.

“It’s a hard transition for service personnel when they get out. The defense contractors are a natural fit — they worked with us often in the field. There’s an inclination to go to the defense contracting industry as a first step,” said Sullivan.

USAA, although a non-contracting company, still has a military connection. The company was founded in the 1920s to provide financial services to service members and their families. USAA currently employees approximately 2,900 military retirees and veterans.

“For many years, it’s been a core part of how we focus on hiring our employees. It’s the right thing to do for our country. Veterans need jobs. The key is to finding the right fit, and the right job for the right veteran,” said John DePiro, Military Talent Manager at USAA.
“USAA exists to take care of military veterans and their families. We like to hire them for the same reasons other companies do: leadership skills, work ethic, and management skills.”

Most companies find very few obstacles when hiring recent veterans and retirees. When they do, they are often rooted in the transition from military to civilian life.

“Veterans sometimes may not understand how their military experience translates well to the work that’s done by the private sector employers. The transition from military services to civilian work can be a time of pretty intense anxiety, and sometimes veterans do not give themselves enough credit for the knowledge and abilities they have,” said Sullivan.

With a different focus than the defense industry, USAA has encountered other obstacles.

“The core job for us is customer service, whether banking, insurance, or investment services. Their skills are based in other areas, so hiring military people for those jobs becomes problematic,” said DePiro.

Both Sullivan and Hamilton attest to the superiority of ex-GIs as workers and recommend the hiring of military veterans and retirees.

“Their training is first-rate. They have technical skills and personal attributes that are easily transferable into the world of 24/7 rail transportation,” said Hamilton. “They understand the discipline needed to run a railroad and they are focused on the job.”

Sullivan agrees: “Our experience is that veterans and retirees bring with them a great work ethic and leadership experience that is very difficult and maybe can’t be trained.”

“They’re focused on mission and purpose,” he continued. “They have a willingness to take initiative and do what it takes.”

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That’s why I started my company, A-10. We have two major divisions, one being clinical research, and the other is our clinical care division. We are a full-service clinical service firm. We are based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. I have about 250 employees.

How did you start your company?
I think I really am the epitome of the traditional entrepreneur. I started my company organically, using savings, I had a mortgage on my house, I made a lot of mistakes, went through a lot of cash, and I really got my first break through a client of ours that is still a client. So, it’s really organically and through hard work, strong networking, and of course doing a quality, superior job in the work that we did.
What gave you the incentive to start your own business?

I was very successful at a large consulting firm, and I was thinking, wow, if I’m successful here I could be successful in my own business. But really, it was the passion of loved ones that have died that really fuels me. The incentive is to gain economic independence for the company and for our employees, but also driving our mission forward of helping to heal the world.

What have been the challenges in starting a business?
When starting my business, [the challenge] was trying to manage the cash flow, because I was using my own money, and secondly is gaining the credibility. When you’re in a clinical research company, you have to win business on your reputation because if you don’t deliver it well, or in compliance with the law, i.e. the FDA regulations, then people can get hurt, they can die. So starting off, it was building the credibility to say, yes, this simple girl from New Jersey can run a clinical research organization.

In the climax of our company, which was last year, when we hit $20 million, that was probably trying to control the growth. Meaning that there are entirely different challenges when people are trying to grow a company, but in parallel, when your company is growing too fast, there are also some challenges. I had to put a great leadership team in very quickly, and also control growth so that we are strategic and we are in an area that can sustain us for years to come.

Why is it important for minorities and women to be economically
independent?
Caucasians net worth now is $113,000, while African Americans is $6,000. Mexican-Americans is $7,000. So hence, how are we going to grow black businesses so that they can achieve economic independence when average net worth is $6,000. If your net income is $6,000, that means you probably don’t even have a house. And typically when you’re an entrepreneur, you give your house up as collateral. If we continue to live this way, and communities of color are the ones that suffer the most in an economic downturn, then we are not going to pass wealth from generation to generation and we will be in this cycle of economic disadvantage if we continue this way.

Why do you think your company has constantly been at the top of African-American-owned and women-run business lists?
I think it is because of our trajectory’s growth. We have grown tremendously quickly. And the reason why we have grown is because we look, we feel, and we act differently than our competitors. The investment world is looking at us, [saying] they are focused, but they are diversified in their focus.

How do you encourage women and minorities to start their own companies and be economically independent?
Not everyone should be an entrepreneur. You have to be a special type of person. You have to be a little crazy. You have to be comfortable with risk. You have to always know that there are things you won’t know and be ok with that, and not everyone is equipped that way. In reality, entrepreneurs are the last ones to get paid. You have to be able to live with uncertainty. I don’t encourage everyone, but the people I do, the advice I give to them, is that if you’re a minority, and you’re a woman, there is no excuse, and if you have the passion and foresight to own your business, there is no excuse to not be successful. There are so many government programs that support you in growing your business, and they are readily available to you.

If you had to pick two, what traits are most important in being an
entrepreneur?
Number one is you must believe in what you’re doing. And number two, you have to be comfortable with uncertainty. Be able to be creative with finances.

What is the most important issue facing the African-American
community?
We don’t have economic independence. It’s frustrating. Black women are going into business twice the rate of any other [demographic]. According to the Center of Research, we are going out of business triple the rate. Why is that? Of course, the common access to capital, meaning that you can’t do much when your median income is $6,000. And number two, African-American women generally are so overcommitted of other things they have to support, like church activities, volunteer work, and children. We, as African-American women, have always been looked at as the anchor for everything, between family, between community, between church, and sometimes those commitments can be in direct conflict with growing a business.

Is there anything else you’d like to add about your success?
I don’t feel that I’m successful. I feel like I’m on a journey. I’m on this journey to make a difference in the world in which I reside. It’s not going to be until the journey is over that I can determine if I’ve made that positive effect. People define success as money or notoriety; I don’t define success that way. I define success that at the end of your lifetime, if you have strangers who may not have known you directly being able to say that this person made a positive difference in my life, that’s when you can define success. There are so many people that are very successful, and then they can do one thing to turn that around into a negative. I’m very careful about giving myself or anybody else any credit; you’re not going to know until at the end of the day when you finally rest if you’ve really truly made a difference.

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“I never thought of [the recession] ever. I never wanted that to creep into mind; that was just another obstacle in my way,” said Ross.

With over 1.2 million members and 55 employees, JackThreads has grown tremendously from its conceptual origins more than six years ago. Launched in 2008, JackThreads has capitalized on the fashionable and frugal male, offering flash sales of up to 80% off the original retail price.

“It came to me because I am the JackThreads customer. I was looking for a business plan, and I wanted to do something that I was passionate about and was true to me. I’ve always been into fashion and I’ve also always been a discount shopper,” said Ross. “There was no outlet catering to cool guys…I saw a great opportunity.”

With no fashion or tech background, Ross experienced a long process of trial and error. JackThread’s rise was gradual, taking nearly two and a half years to launch. By the time the company was ready to present itself to the public, a marketing budget was not feasible.

“Just like we have from day one, we had to get creative. My thought immediately went to, ‘I’m a guy looking for these products at great prices, where do I spend time online.’ I knew a number of online communities that were creating content that was interesting to me. I started cold-calling blogs and print magazines, and I got them to write a story on us. Anytime they featured us, their readers would go crazy; they started shopping immediately, they were inviting their friends. It was a combination of being featured in the right places online and also creating a unique experience. Word-of-mouth was key to us,” said Ross.

Ross, 30, is a far cry from the middle-aged CEOs that run most companies. Ross believes being young has helped him in his business ventures, giving him the (some say fool-hardy) benefit of youth who don’t have commitments and baggage like families and long employment histories.

“When you’re young and you don’t have all the life commitments, it’s the perfect time. My mindset in the early days was ‘I know it’s going to take me a while to figure out how to be successful on that career path, but if I work at it and I don’t quit, that knowledge is going to be more valuable than anything I’d learn at a corporate job.’ It took years to get through a lot of ups and downs. Looking at where it got me in the business, I can’t imagine doing anything else,” related Ross.

In the future, Ross hopes to expand JackThreads, a goal already underway, as the company was recently acquired by New York media business Thrillist Co., which has significantly expanded the start-up.

“The opportunity today is much bigger than it ever was. We also know that there are other business development opportunities we can build off of JackThreads today,” said Ross. “We are constantly figuring out ways to grow the brand and evolve it.”

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Since the Women’s Rights Movement in the 1970s, women have come a long way in their pursuit of equal rights. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in 1975, 39.6% of the employed population were women; by 2011, that number had risen to 47.2 percent. The rate of women working has also grown since the 70s. In the 1970s, 43.3 percent of American women participated in the workforce and in 2010 that number had increased to 59.7 percent.

Not only are more women participated more in the U.S. workforce, more women are also becoming more educated. Due to sexism and social expectations in previous decades, women were less likely to seek higher education degrees than men. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, however, starting at the beginning of the 1980s, more women than men began earning higher education degrees. Since the early 1990s, substantially more women than men have been earning undergraduate as well as graduate and other professional degrees than men. In 1991, there were almost 100,000 more women than men earning an undergraduate degree; by 2005, there were more than 200,000 more women than men earning an undergraduate degree. In 1991, there were almost 30,000 more women than men earning a graduate degree; by 2005, there were more than 100,000 more women than men earning a graduate degree.

Despite this growth, women are still not treated equally in the workforce. While societal expectations for women to participate in the workforce have certainly increased, women are not paid equally or given the same career advancement opportunities as men.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2003, the average woman makes 77.5 cents for every dollar the average man grosses. In 1997 the BLS reported that women earned less than men in 99 percent of all occupations. Since then, not much seems to have changed; see below for 2009 Bureau of Labor Statistics’ data on individual occupations and the differences between male and female earnings.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2003, the average woman makes 77.5 cents for every dollar the average man grosses. In 1997 the BLS reported that women earned less than men in 99 percent of all occupations. Since then, not much seems to have changed; see below for 2009 Bureau of Labor Statistics’ data on individual occupations and the differences between male and female earnings.

And it’s not just earnings where the sexes differ. According to the International Business Report, 40 percent of businesses in the world do not have a single woman in their senior management departments. And according to Catalyst, less than 16 percent of Fortune 500 companies have women as corporate officer; Catalyst projected that it will take 40 more years for women and men to equally share corporate officer positions in Fortune 500 companies.

Several reasons have been considered to explain the discrepancies between men and women in the workforce. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that women tend to have less experience, work fewer hours annually, are less likely to work full-time, and tend to take leave for longer periods of time than men. In 2003, the GAO found that despite taking these factors into account when analyzing the pay differences between men and women, there was still a discrepancy in both sexes’ earnings.
So the question is: With more and more women seeking employment and higher education, is it only a matter of time before we begin to be treated and paid equally to men, or do discriminatory work practices need to be better defined and enforced by the government to close these workplace gaps?

Sara Witt is a writer bringing an update on gender differences in the workplace. Sara writes about discrimination on www.personalinjuryattorney.org.

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There is an IT company called Unicus in Norway that has hired several employees with Asperger’s Syndrome. This is a profitable company with a pool of unique talents working for them (the managing director says that one employee learned Japanese on his own, another can read 2000 words per minute.) These are talents that most companies wouldn’t even bring up in an interview. The owner of Unicus had calculated that he saved the Norwegian government €1,375,000 for just one of his employees, as they are now working and not on welfare.

About two years ago I saw a TV program in France about a factory that hired only people with disabilities, also with measurable profits. I’m sure there are more companies like this around Europe, but it isn’t common.

Feedback from the former and latter employees shows that they are happy to be able to contribute to society and not feel like a burden. They earn money, they socialize and feel valued, quite the opposite of the feelings of staying home, on welfare. Employers say that they employ extremely loyal people that never miss a day of work, and benefit from previously-mentioned special talents.

Some years back I worked for a company that had a person born blind answering incoming calls. No one could hear that she was blind, as she had all the equipment needed to transfer calls and read absent messages. She was the best first impression imaginable for the company, friendly and helpful—and always present. Those people are not easy to find. The investment cost of acquiring the necessary equipment is not even a percent of the cost saved in hiring and re-hiring for 30 years. People with sight impairments are a group that very often becomes isolated, which wasn’t the case for her. The job allowed her the money to have more freedom to do what she wanted and to have a social life.

People with hidden disabilities, however, may get to the interview, but many live in fear that their employer will find out. It is fear of being stigmatized, fear of not getting the projects and promotions that they believe they rightfully can earn. In France, companies struggle to fulfill the government legislation of reserving 6% of jobs for people with disabilities. It is assumed that quite a few employees have mental disabilities; they just do not inform their employer. Mental health is still taboo enough that employees do not feel safe to “come out” as someone with a mental illness. Some people feel safer coming out as gay or lesbian than saying they have a mental illness.

Although mental health is something not share widely with people, it is less of a taboo than before. Well known people, like singer Robbie Williams and actor Ben Stiller have come forth publicly that they are bipolar—which I do believe have contributed to more openness and acceptance of what one could call “hidden disability/condition/impairment.”

Last year a Norwegian politician “came out” as bipolar. She was interviewed on TV, sharing the challenges she has in her daily life, as well as what she feels she is gaining from being bipolar. She shared that at work she brings in other angles to problems and sees other solutions than her co-workers. She also mentioned that her highs and lows make her appreciate the highs so much more, something other people possibly forget.

So, why is it so hard for employers to see the win-win situations from hiring people with physical and mental disabilities? Lack of information? Lack of will? Fear for additional work? Fear of having “funny situations” at work? I believe it is the first—lack of information. Many businesses don’t know the investment costs (how much and what is covered by the government,) they don’t know how to advertise jobs externally that don’t put off people with disabilities, and they are not aware of the benefits of hiring people with disabilities.

What can create more win-win situations and “opening the blind spot?” At the top of my mind, I’d say three core actions: hire someone to enlighten the management team(s), look at recruitment strategies and processes, and focus on creating an inclusive work environment.

Concerning the first point, awareness sessions, over the years I have acquired knowledge from disability networks and published researched that the main barrier to people with disabilities being hired and promoted is a lack of awareness among hiring managers. So I’d suggest starting there. I have seen the positive effects myself; I was lucky to work in a company where many European colleagues in D&I and HR felt passionately about hiring more people with disabilities. They conducted awareness sessions for managers and the recruitment department, contacted disability organizations to advertise and get leads, hired more people with physical or mental impairments, followed up with managers and colleagues in the hiring departments—and feedback was that the overall working environment and the company gained from it. There was no longer a blind spot to this group of talent. There is so much talent out there, go get it and create more win-win for our society!

Sunniva Heggertveit-Aoudia, owner of NORSUN Diversity and Cross-Culture Consulting, is a consultant, trainer and co-active coach. She has more than 20 diverse years of experience from the oil industry, recruitment and customer relations. Sunniva is a diversity specialist and inhabits deep knowledge on working across cultures.

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Serving the needs of the population of Flint, Michigan is no easy task. Most notably, coming home provides insecurity when soldiers are left without jobs. Hiring military and veterans has become a priority for many corporations and a new aspect of diversity and inclusion in every workplace across the country.

A city once known as the birthplace of General Motors and a monument to the once-great manufacturing power of America has now become a national symbol of the crisis that befell many Rust Belt cities when those manufacturing jobs began to dwindle. Still, bolstered by an emergence of new business opportunities, a diverse population, and a mayor who grew up in the city during its more productive days, Flint could be on the verge of a major turnaround.

Flint is 57 percent African American, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. The city faces several challenges not only due to its racial diversity, but also the changes caused by a dramatically shifting economy. Moving from an economy primarily dependent on General Motors and the automotive industry to a more well-rounded market not at the mercy of the erratic auto industry has been a major focus of late by city leadership.
Because of the steady loss of manufacturing jobs, Flint’s unemployment rate is nearly 12 percent. Flint’s poverty and crime rates are unsurprisingly high as a result of those unemployment figures.

But the city’s composition is no longer just people with roots in the manufacturing industry. Flint is home to three colleges: University of Michigan-Flint, Kettering University and Mott Community College. UM-Flint is the fastest growing public university in Michigan; Kettering is one of the top engineering schools in the country according to U.S. News and World Report; and Mott was recognized by the White House this fall for its emphasis on workforce training programs. Combined, the colleges bring nearly 9,000 students per day into the city limits.

As a result, the public’s expectations of government have become more nuanced. Citizens in the most crime-riddled areas are concerned foremost with public safety. The unemployed want local government to help create jobs they are qualified for or provide training programs to help them land work in new fields. The college crowd is interested in adding attractions like restaurants and entertainment venues closer to the campuses.

The city’s administration, led by Mayor Dayne Walling, tries to meet all of these very different needs.

“I took an oath when I was sworn in as mayor to serve all people in the city, and I take that commitment very seriously,” Walling said. “Democracy is all about finding common ground among diverse perspectives. I believe that the solutions we identify as a whole community are much better than what one group or one neighborhood would come up with.”

Walling, who was re-elected in November to his second term as the city’s mayor, is a product of Flint Public Schools, which helped him understand the diverse needs he’d need to meet when he was elected in 2009.

“I grew up in Flint and graduated from Flint Public Schools,” Walling said. “I was part of the first generation that came through racially integrated public schools here. From a very young age, I was interacting with kids from all different parts of the city, from families of all different income levels. It taught me a lot about the different backgrounds and perspectives that people come from.”

One of the first initiatives he put in place was designed to give residents of the city a chance to make demands on their government leadership: Neighborhood Action Sessions. The public forums essentially started a dialogue between residents in all parts of the city and local elected officials, law enforcement, and other administrators. Walling’s administration hosted more than 40 of these sessions in neighborhoods, churches, businesses, schools, and community organizations and sought input about the services residents felt were most vital. Not surprisingly, the feedback was very different depending on the audience, something that Walling felt has been useful.

“The process was very effective because it allowed everybody to get involved right in their own neighborhood,” he said. “We had nearly 1,500 people participate in that process.”

Jared Field, a resident of Flint’s Bradley Hills neighborhood on the city’s west side, notes that the city’s diverse population and opinions are a key to turning things around.

“I’ve heard stories my whole life about Flint and what it was like in its ‘heyday.’ I made the decision to move into the city because I know, without a doubt, that positive change comes from within,” Field said. “We have a healthy mix of people living in this city, people whose experiences cover a broad spectrum. To make another ‘heyday’ possible, we have to continue to harness the power of a diverse population and inspire more people to take ownership of Flint’s future.”
Field also said that although Walling, like any elected official, faces his share of criticism, his administration has established an open line of communication with residents.

“During Mayor Walling’s tenure in Flint, a new economic reality set in and it has been an adjustment for everyone,” Field said. “I respect Mayor Walling for his willingness to make tough decisions aimed at right-sizing our city. In the midst of a national recession, Walling has helped create an environment of cooperation focused on comprehensive solutions for a city on the rebound.”

Walling noted that, despite the crime and poverty the city has experienced over the last three decades, Flint has a long history of different races and backgrounds working together in unison. In 1968, for example, Flint was the first city of 100,000 or more people in the United States to pass an open and fair housing ordinance.

“They passed it by referendum – other cities put something similar in place by a city council or commission voting, but a majority of Flint voters supported an open housing referendum that eliminated a lot of the deed restrictions and allowed people of all racial and religious groups to live anywhere in the city,” Walling said. “We have a proud history of cooperation that goes along with the ongoing challenges of racial and socioeconomic inequality.”

Walling’s work as mayor has focused on one major common solution that he believes will solve a multitude of the city’s problems: redevelopment. Redevelopment creates jobs, which reduces unemployment. It also reduces blight, which fosters safer neighborhoods. Redevelopment brings entertainment and attractions into the city, which encourages not only Flint residents but outsiders to visit and spend money in the community.

Walling’s development initiatives have targeted all regions of Flint.

“The new jobs and developments in the city have positively impacted neighborhoods in all parts of the city,” Walling said. “We have a new state of Michigan Department of Human Services building that is anchoring a commercial and retail plaza on the city’s north side. We have a major infrastructure improvement from the expressway to our college corridor that was put in on the city’s west side. On the east side, we had major demolition and neighborhood improvement work that has been done with federal grant funds. On the south side, a major pharmacy company has moved their headquarters into the city of Flint. We have a comprehensive, city-wide strategy of improving the infrastructure and bringing new development to all parts of the city.”

One theme, though, has been present in all of the decisions Walling’s administration has made: diversity. He believes that more feedback from different groups of people will ultimately lead to a stronger city.

Concludes Walling: “The developments and initiatives that can be supported by a diverse group are more sustainable over time, more resilient to market change, and they end up benefitting more families.”

Patrick Hayes is a freelance journalist based in Michigan. Read more of his work at his website, www.patrickhayes.net, or follow him on Twitter @patrick_hayes.

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The undergraduate gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (GLBTQ) organization Spectrum hosts drag show four times a year. But the isolated incidents served as a wake up call for the university, prompting a “No Hate on My Campus” campaign.

“The situation sucked but it presented us with this opportunity,” said Spectrum co-president, Billy Price. “It really led the campus to realize that these things are happening at Miami and know that they’re not okay.”

Price joined the coalition during his first year because he wanted to be involved in a group spreading awareness and education across campus for GLBTQ community.

“It’s really important for me to be involved in making the campus, the community, and ultimately the world a better place for LGBTQ people,” Price said.

According to Price, Spectrum is a social group that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning, queer and allied students at Miami. Roughly 30 and 40 people attend the weekly Spectrum meetings.

This year, the group is educating members at meetings about topics regarding allied support, strange sex practices from all over the world, political issues, the intersection of faith and sexuality, AIDS, and the concept of gender as a social construction, Price said.

Spectrum advocates for equal opportunities for all students. The group welcomes all students and community members to participate in events and activities promoting social change. For nearly 25 years, gay and lesbian alliances (GLAs) were established on campus, Price said, but several variations of such groups came and went during times when the university refused to recognize them as legitimate student organizations.

According to Price, he has seen positive changes during his time at Miami. For instance, the largest growing segment of Spectrum is allied support. According to Miami University’s GLBTQ Services website, an ally is “a person who supports sexual and gender diversity, challenges those who don’t, and works towards equality; often used to describe a heterosexual person who identifies with the LGBT community.”

“Studies have shown that if you know someone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender than you’re more likely to have positive feelings toward the LGBT population as a whole,” Price said. “Building allies is one of our goals. So much of this campus has been changing in terms of ideology and political views. It’s amazing what time can do.”

Subsequently, on Oct. 25, 2011, Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) visited Miami University, which is a religious group notorious for picketing soldiers’ funerals and vehemently renouncing homosexuality. Months leading up to WBC’s scheduled picketing, Miami’s campus exploded with mixed reactions. Originally a member of the religious group intended to come speak during a comparative religion course.

“The original plan was for Westboro to come to a class on religious extremism so the professor could demonstrate his research methods and allow his class to practice an ethics-influenced empathy-based approach to studying Westboro,” said Price. “It’s really a fascinating approach when the only interaction people have with them is yelling across picket lines.”

But the proposed visit backlashed when the student newspaper, The Miami Student exposed the visit to the community. Upon hearing the news, Price and Spectrum’s Leadership Team prepared by extensively researching the tactics and beliefs of WBC. Then the department of comparative religion retracted the invitation of WBC member Shirley Phelps-Roper.

As a result, WBC announced on its website a plan to picket the university. Instead of reacting with adverse hatred, Spectrum collaborated with 43 co-sponsors to host counter-picketing event during the scheduled protest and “White Out Hate” campaign.

“We knew that people would initially want to stand there and scream back at them,” Price said. “Westboro is really great at eliciting this knee-jerk response that provides conflict and fodder for the media.

“We really didn’t want to enhance them in any way. We decided to have an event removed from where they were trying to be to draw people away to keep the exposure down,” he said.

The event stood as an alternative for people, protecting them from the “emotional terrorism” or possible litigation from WBC if students or community members cross the line, Price said. Moreover, the “White Out Hate” campaign was charged as a silent protest tactic for students to show solidarity throughout the day before WBC arrived. Spectrum also hosted a teach-in on “hate” to discuss the status of hate crimes and hate groups in America. The counter-picket event raised money for a local veterans fund and an LGBT cause with about 500 people cycling throughout.

“It was an affirming experience and we really had one Miami community at that event,” Price said. “It wasn’t just LGBT allies. It was everyone just coming together against this all-encompassing group.”

Spectrum is a resource for students seeking a safe place to express struggles with sexuality and to celebrate the GLBTQ community.
“We’re open to absolutely everyone,” Price said. “We can’t really build walls when we’re trying to tear them down.”

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Miami University is a public college located in the southwestern Ohio town of Oxford, Ohio. Known for its red bricks, “Public Ivy” status, and married Miami graduates known as “Miami Mergers,” poet Robert Frost once called it “the most beautiful college there is.”

Miami has a student population of roughly 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students, with the largest percentage being Caucasian students. As of fall 2010, the university enrolled 14,686 undergraduates. 12,271 students were Caucasian, 602 African American, 349 Hispanic/Latino, 389 Asian, 70 American Indian and 114 multi-racial.

The enrollment numbers are not uncommon for historically white institutions across the country, but Miami has taken significant strides to combat the staggering statistics.The university has services that target multicultural and international students, women, students with disabilities, and the GLBTQ community.

The Office of Diversity Affairs (ODA) provides resources for education and programming to bring awareness and inclusion for everyone, says Gerald Yearwood, Senior Director of the ODA.

“When you allow people to understand not only diversity but also inclusion and difference, you basically have to educate people into understanding that no one’s the same,” Yearwood said. “Everyone’s different in their own way. We have to be accepting of that, which is something that our society does not do.”

The foundation of ODA is to reach diverse students represented by race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and socioeconomic statuses, and expose their experiences to the remaining majority.

As soon as a first-year student arrives on campus the ODA exposes them to various organizations that challenge stereotypes and misconceptions. One important first-year program is Made@Miami. This program gives incoming students from diverse backgrounds an exclusive glimpse into the Miami culture three days before regular move-in.

“I always tag it as a three-day boot camp where students are allowed to learn as much as they can about how to navigate Miami University,” Yearwood said. “It gives them an opportunity to integrate with other students, both students of color and with students who are not of color. They form friendships and different ideologies in terms of how they can grow and develop over time.”

Through ODA, GLBTQ services are readily available to increase knowledge and support for the GLBTQ community.

Workshops, lectures, and events are established during each semester where all students and staff can participate through groups such as Spectrum, GLEAM, and Haven.

Moreover, ODA has a student faction from the university’s Associated Student Government (ASG) called The Diversity Affairs Council (DAC). The council is an alliance of student organizations that raise issues regarding the university’s cultural climate to boost the presence of diversity.

Beyond Miami’s Office of Diverse Affairs, the university created the Women’s Center to meet the needs of women on campus.

“The formal mission statement is to advance women’s full participation and success as students and global citizens through educational programs, leadership opportunities, and support and advocacy services that engage students with women and gender issues and foster women’s personal and professional development,” said Rhonda Jackson, Administrative Assistant at the Women’s Center.