News Announcement
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Lynne Briggs or Cheryl Kight at 614-469-1950

Columbus, December 2009

AT&T SPONSORS OFIC DIVERSITY FORUM AT OTTERBEIN COLLEGE

AT&T sponsored The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges (OFIC) 2009 Fall Diversity Forum on December 2 on the campus of Otterbein College. The Forum was entitled “Collaboratively Advancing Corporate and Campus Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives”.

The forum was attended by corporate diversity and human resource managers, as well as campus multicultural affairs directors, career services directors, and other employees involved in diversity/inclusion issues. Participants included 17 corporate representatives of 15 businesses and 34 staff members representing 17 OFIC member colleges and universities.

Cristina Villacinda, President & CEO, Empleos and Employment LLC, was the keynote speaker. Ms. Villacinda founded Empleos and Employment with a mission to strengthen organizations by promoting inclusion & development of the Latino and other minority workforce across all organizational levels. She provided attendees with her insights regarding cross-cultural understanding and the importance of incorporating diverse populations and cultures to build stronger communities.

Following the keynote speaker was a panel presentation on the subject of preparing a global workforce through education, diversity & inclusion. Panelists presenting their perspectives included a corporate representative from both AT&T and McGraw-Hill Companies, a campus Director of Multicultural Affairs, and a senior student from both Capital University and Otterbein College.

During lunch forum attendees participated in roundtable discussions.

OFIC offers diversity forums periodically as part of its ongoing diversity initiative. They have been extremely well attended and provide an opportunity for corporate supporters and campus personnel to discuss important issues of diversity and inclusion common to the corporate sector and college campuses.

OFIC, a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization, is the primary corporate and foundation solicitation organization for 34 independent Ohio colleges and universities. OFIC member colleges collectively enroll 98,000 students. For 60 years The Foundation has worked to highlight the leadership, value and excellence of independent higher education. Through contributions raised in annual solicitations of businesses and foundations OFIC has provided unrestricted operating funds and scholarship assistance, thereby assuring continuation of excellence in independent higher education. OFIC is governed by a Board of Trustees comprised of Ohio’s corporate leaders, as well as presidents of the 34 member colleges.

The member colleges are: Ashland University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Bluffton University, Capital University, Cedarville University, University of Dayton, Defiance College, Denison University, The University of Findlay, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Franklin University, Heidelberg University, Hiram College, John Carroll University, Kenyon College, Lake Erie College, Lourdes College, Malone University, Marietta College, Mount Union College, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Muskingum University, Notre Dame College, Oberlin College, Ohio Dominican University, Ohio Northern University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Otterbein College, Urbana University, Ursuline College, Walsh University, Wilmington College, Wittenberg University and The College of Wooster.