Bloomfield Student Earns Scholarship to Diversity Conference

A Bloomfield resident was awarded a scholarship to attend the nation’s leading conference on diversity issues in higher education.

Sherlene Ayala, a doctoral student in education at Montclair State University, won a scholarship to the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity based on her commitment to issues of diversity on her campus and overall merit.

At the conference, Ayala and other students can hear from acclaimed speakers including Melissa Harris-Perry, political science professor at Tulane University and host of the MSNBC Melissa Harris-Perry Show, Oi Yan Poon, assistant professor of education at Loyola University Chicago and Sylvia Hurtado, graduate school of education and information studies professor and director of the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.

In addition, Joy Harjo, Muskogee (Creek) Nation poet, musician and author, Jean Quan, mayor of Oakland, Ca. and Robert Jensen, professor of communication at The University of Texas are a few other keynote speakers attending NCORE 2013.

NCORE serves as a national social justice resource for higher education institutions. More than 2,500 administrators, deans, faculty, students and others gather annually.

“This year’s conference promises to bring unparalleled opportunities to connect with higher education officials who are leading change and real dialogue about race and ethnicity in America,” Belinda Biscoe, associate vice president of University Outreach at the University of Oklahoma, said. “Our session topics such as identity and awareness issues and equality and justice issues are important as ever, especially for students.”

NCORE was launched in 1988 by the Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies to address the resurgence of racist incidents in higher education. The 2013 conference has expanded to cover additional relevant issues.