OFFICE OF MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS
- Get ready for the annual Multicultural Resource Center Open House! Thursday, August 28, from 1 to 4 pm! Express yourself creatively by designing your own t-shirt! And enjoy ice cream and the music of Expresso Brazil! Don't miss this fun start to the new year!
- We’re looking for outgoing, creative students with Work Study to join our 08-09 Student Staff! Want to see the job description?
Want to submit your online application? Call us at 334.5090 if you have any questions. We’re looking forward to adding some new faces!
Keynote Speaker Scheduled March 15 — EUC Auditorium at 7 pm
“One Indigenous Woman’s View: Indigenous Women and Feminism”
Denise K. Henning, PhD, President and Vice Chancellor of the University College of the North in Canada, is a leader in higher education administration. As a Cherokee/Choctaw originating from Creek County in Oklahoma, Dr. Henning brings a passion for equity and inclusion in higher education, as well as a concern for helping students; faculty, staff, and administrators from all backgrounds appreciate the rich heritages present in our country and in our contemporary world. In particular, through her research she has acquired critical awareness of the social and institutional issues that affect the educational performance of indigenous students and other underrepresented groups. Through her teaching experiences with graduate and undergraduate students, she has honed skills in mentoring students whose cultural orientation does not match readily with the customary pedagogical patterns in higher education and translating this information to administration, faculty, and staff.
By conviction Dr. Henning has chosen to follow a career in higher education focused on inclusiveness and altruistic ideals. Her experiences in the academe, not only as a faculty/administrator, but also more importantly as a student beginning at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), instilled in her what constitutes effective inclusive academic leadership and in the development of a life-long, living-learning environment. she became committed to a profession in higher education nine years ago as a graduate student when provided with an opportunity to intern as a coordinator for MASTER Success Program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Multicultural Affairs Office.
Dr. Henning later became instrumental in starting two American Indian Studies programs, one at UNO and the other at New Mexico State University. Her previous experience as Executive Director of Intercultural Programs at Loras College, where she was tasked with creating a welcoming environment for entering students and faculty, was challenging due to the historical race issues known to Dubuque, Iowa. As the previous Vice President of Academics at First Nations University of Canada, she provided administrative leadership in the academic integrity of the three-campus institution as well as strong program development at the University of Regina in her tenure as Executive Director of International Student Success Office and Full Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Graduate Studies and Research Faculty.
For more than four years Dr. Henning has consulted with institutions of higher education throughout the United States advising them regarding campus cultural climates assessment, increasing faculty diversity and representation, multicultural student retention, intercultural communication, and inclusive and equitable strategic and long-range planning. Her most recent research is in the developments of models and initiatives to reduce the disparity in math and science educational attainment of indigenous youth.